Print edition: 
A $5 million annual state subsidy that helps keep low-cost air service at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport was cut from the state's budget Monday by a key House committee.
The state's five-year commitment to the "Fair Fares" subsidy runs out this year and must be renewed by the Legislature if it is to continue.
Supporters and opponents argue over the program's benefit, but nearly everyone acknowledges that it was instrumental in bringing discount carrier AirTran Airways to Wichita — and with it, lower fares to many destinations.
"This is a real blow to Sedgwick County and the western half of the state," said Rep. Pete DeGraaf, R-Mulvane. "It will be very difficult to get it back in on the House floor, because you'll have to take it out of some other source of funding."
The chairman of the House committee, Rep. Marc Rhoades, R-Newton, said that with Southwest Airlines moving to buy AirTran, there are indications that the subsidy might not be necessary in years to come.
He said Southwest Airlines, which announced its purchase of AirTran in September, has indicated that it won't need to be subsidized long-term if it offers flights from Wichita.
The House committee's move set up a potential conflict between the House and Senate budgets.
The Senate Ways and Means Committee voted to fully fund the program for next year.
The budget will likely be up for debate in both houses early next week. Following that, a conference committee of senators and representatives will meet to try to work out the differences between the chambers' budget bills.
Wichita city officials and business leaders say low-cost air service is critical to the region's economic health, particularly in attracting conventions and its efforts to recruit and maintain businesses.
DeGraaf said he would be open to offering an amendment to fund the Fair Fares program when the budget reaches the House floor.
But he said the best hope for continuing the program will be the conference committee.
He said if the House sends a budget to conference committee with no funding for the subsidy, and if the Senate retains its $5 million, the result could be a compromise.
"It could go to $1 million, or they could fund it at half, or it could go to the full funding," he said. "We'll just have to see."
Sen. Carol McGinn, R-Sedgwick, the chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, does not plan to compromise.
"I am shocked that they would remove a key tool that promotes jobs and puts money back in the state," McGinn said. "This is a part of the governor's recommended budget as part of his roadmap for economic development. I think it's important that we fully fund this program."
Gov. Sam Brownback included the full $5 million in his Economic Development Strategic Plan.
"We are in a really tight budget atmosphere, but that is one of the things we have to have to be a globally competitive area," Brownback said last year when asked about the subsidy. "You need to have accessible air transportation at reasonable prices."
Jason Watkins, lobbyist for the Wichita Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is disappointed with the committee's decision.
"In the end, we're confident that a majority of legislators will view the program with the same perspective as the governor, that it is a key part of the state's economic development plan," he said.
Watkins said proponents of the Fair Fares Program would continue to communicate with legislators, but may focus on having the program funded through the conference committee.
Rep. Kasha Kelley, R-Arkansas City, said the committee seemed committed to cutting expenses from the budget over the next several years. The state faces a $493 million deficit.
"I think a lot of people think Fair Fares is a good and worthwhile program," Kelley said.
"But when you look at the shortfall we're facing over the next couple of years, and even greater after that, there are just some hard things that will have to be done to offset that.
"Right now the will of the committee is to cut as much out of the budget as possible, and there were members who felt that this was a cut that could be made."
Early this session, a legislative post audit challenged the size of the subsidy's benefit.
Reports by the Regional Economic Area Partnership — which administers the program with state, county and city funds — claimed the annual return on every dollar the state invested was $5.25.
Legislative auditors said the report contained inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and their analysis showed the benefit from Fair Fares is closer to $3 for every $1 invested.
"I'll take a three-to-one tradeoff any day," Rhoades said. "I think that the program shows good support for economic development.
"The audit also showed that while the partnership claimed fares decreased by 17 percent from 2000 to 2007, the U.S. Department of Transportation showed the decrease to be 12.7 percent.
McGinn got the news of the House committee's decision while she was attending a general aviation rally in Wichita on Monday morning.
"I think it's ironic that we just had this rally where we all talked about making sure that we promote an environment in which businesses can compete, and part of that is having affordable airfare," McGinn said. "This doesn't just impact Wichita or western Kansas. Its widespread impact helps everybody in the state.
"And for them to take out an important piece of that plan ... I'm confused by that."
Wichita originally created the affordable airfare program known as Fair Fares in 2001.
According to the post audit, AirTran entered the Wichita market in May 2002 and Frontier entered the market in December 2007.
Both airlines have contracts that guaranteeing revenue in exchange for providing low-cost air services to Mid-Continent Airport.
