Five things to watch for in Gov. Sam Brownback’s State of the State address (+videos)

Gov. Sam Brownback will lay out his vision for Kansas and his legislative priorities for the year during his State of the State address on Tuesday.

He will speak at 5:30 p.m. in the Kansas House chambers, a few hours before President Obama addresses the nation for the State of the Union speech. Expect the Republican governor to offer his policies as a contrast to the Democratic president.

Brownback also is likely to tout his efforts to fight poverty, something he has made a central focus of his second term. Last week, he rolled out a mentoring program for welfare recipients, which he hopes will help people lift themselves out of poverty.

Here are some things to watch for in the governor’s speech.

1. Big policy proposal

During last year’s speech, the governor called for a new school finance formula, and within a few weeks, the Legislature had repealed the formula the state had been using for 23 years, replacing it with block grants for the next two years. Lawmakers are expected to begin work on a new formula this year, although they may not vote on a final plan.

Brownback was coy Monday about the content of his speech. “I’m not going to tell you. I’m giving it tomorrow,” he said.

2. Budget hints

How much detail will the governor give about the state’s finances, and how will that compare to the budget he presents the next day?

Brownback will unveil his budget to lawmakers at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. The state faces a projected budget shortfall of about $190 million for the next 18 months, which the governor will have to offset. Brownback has said he will not raise taxes, so he will have to rely on some combination of budget cuts and sweeps from the state’s highway fund or other sources.

The speech may not provide details about his budget plans. Last year, when the state faced an even greater shortfall, Brownback promised in his speech to continue his march toward zero income taxes. He said he was “the sort of guy who would have sent Alex Gordon from third base,” a reference to the Kansas City Royals stopping the star player from running to home on a crucial play late in the final game of the 2014 World Series.

When the governor unveiled his budget the next day, he proposed delaying scheduled income tax cuts as a way of raising revenue and reducing income tax deductions, a move that appeared to contradict his speech.

3. Jabs at Kansas Supreme Court

Brownback criticized the state’s high court in his previous two State of the State addresses, to great applause from Republican lawmakers. Last year, he called for a change in the way state Supreme Court justices are selected. The current system relies on a nonpartisan panel to select nominees.

“With the court involving itself in so many public policy issues, it is time the selection process be more democratic,” Brownback said then. With an important school finance court decision looming that could force the state to spend millions more on schools, it’s likely the governor will take aim at the court again.

4. Comments about the economy

The governor has pointed to a low unemployment rate of 4 percent as proof that the income tax cuts he has championed are spurring economic growth.

Kansas has gained jobs at a slower rate than neighboring states that did not cut income taxes. The state gained 7,000 nonfarm jobs between November 2014 and November 2015, a growth rate of 0.5 percent.

Nebraska had a growth rate of 1.5 percent and Colorado of 1.8 percent during the same period, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Missouri also outpaced Kansas with a growth rate of 1 percent. Among bordering states, only Oklahoma fared worse than Kansas, losing net jobs by a rate of 0.1 percent.

Looking only at the private sector, Kansas fared a little better, gaining 10,000 jobs over 12 months. That’s significantly short of Brownback’s re-election campaign promise to add 25,000 private-sector jobs to the state’s economy each year.

5. Any mention of refugees

Brownback – along with other Republican governors – opposes Obama’s plan to accept 10,000 refugees fleeing the civil war in Syria.

The governor initially ordered state agencies to not assist the federal government in resettling Syrian refugees. On Friday, he signed a new order that instructs state agencies to not assist in resettlement of any refugees “that present a safety and security risk to the State of Kansas, until such time as an adequate vetting process is in place with adequate assurances to the state.”

Advocates for refugees have been surprised by the governor’s hard-line stance on the issue, because Brownback was a champion for refugee resettlement when he was in the U.S. Senate. In 2007, he was the co-sponsor of a bill to help Iraqi refugees settle in the United States. He also played a role in resettling refugees from Sudan who were fleeing genocide.

The governor said in a statement last week that recent events, such as the arrest of two Iraqi refugees on terrorism-related charges, “demand that we take prudent and responsible action to protect the citizens of Kansas.”

This story was originally published January 11, 2016 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Five things to watch for in Gov. Sam Brownback’s State of the State address (+videos)."