Print edition: 
These are strange times in Topeka. The governor is a lame duck, and one of five state officeholders who weren’t elected to their jobs.
The speaker of the House is fighting an ethics probe because he’s the lead attorney in a lawsuit against the state over funding.
Perhaps eight state senators are juggling legislative work with their campaigns for Congress or statewide office.
The session is two-thirds over and has been most notable for — other than the surprising passage of a statewide indoor smoking ban — outlawing fake pot and arguing over an official state grass.
And the size of the budget hole is at about $470 million and counting, with everyone holding his breath until the next official revenue forecast in April. Lengthy floor debates are expected this week, as lawmakers consider different remedies. It’s still hard to see how Kansas gets through this fiscal disaster in one piece.
Gov. Mark Parkinson has said the budget demands a tax increase — a point of view Senate GOP leaders reluctantly have begun to embrace and House GOP leaders have refused to accept.
The Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee’s extensive consideration of increasing alcohol, tobacco and sales taxes, and perhaps taxing sugary pop, ended last week with no agreement.
On Thursday the House Appropriations Committee advanced its so-called answer. True to its word, the panel would avoid tax increases, but only by cutting another $172 million from K-12 public education (an estimated $20 million cut for USD 259), shifting some of the burden of property taxes onto local school districts, and aggravating inequities in school funding across the state (an issue at the heart of the past lawsuit and Kansas Supreme Court decision).
It also would rely on the federal government providing $131 million in extended stimulus Medicaid funding (no sure thing) and, more curiously, $10 million for passage of a primary seat-belt law — which House Republicans have long fought.
Plus, it would freeze state contributions to the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System at their current level for two years (never mind KPERS’ long-term solvency problems), and it includes millions of dollars in other cuts that aren’t explained. Some of the ideas will strike many Kansans as reasonable during this downturn, including reducing most state agency budgets by 1 percent and cutting most state salaries by 5 percent, though it should be noted that state agencies have already experienced repeated budget cuts. And the plan tries to spare prisons and even help social services and local governments.
In short, there may be some material to work with. But the House GOP plan is not a serious solution and, even if it managed to pass, wouldn’t have enough support to override an all-but-certain veto by the governor.
Still, this is all part of the big dance of balancing a $5 billion-plus state budget during a historic recession. In the tough days to come, Kansans should let legislators know both their priorities and their expectations, including that good sense and foresight will prevail.
