‘Bank of KDOT’ still open

So much for a House panel taking a stand against diverting millions of dollars from the state’s highway fund to pay for general government operations. It’s easier to keep borrowing from the “Bank of KDOT.”

The House Transportation and Public Safety Budget Committee voted last week to oppose $280 million of more than $750 million in highway fund transfers proposed for the next two fiscal years. The lawmakers were correctly concerned that so much money has been diverted from the highway fund that the Kansas Department of Transportation needs to raise its debt limit.

“This would be the equivalent, to me, of running my credit up to the limit and then calling the bank and saying, ‘Oh, yes, by the way, there are a few more things I’d like to buy. Can I have some more credit? I think I’m going to be able to pay for it,’ ” Rep. Russell Jennings, R-Lakin, said.

But on Monday, the committee quickly reversed itself and added back the $280 million in transfers.

The committee didn’t even meet in a hearing room. Its members gathered along the rail of the Capitol rotunda.

Committee chairman Rep. J.R. Claeys, R-Salina, said after Monday’s meeting that more study was needed on how removing the transfers would affect the budget as a whole.

The state is facing a budget shortfall next fiscal year of about $700 million. Because state revenue has been dropping due to income tax cuts, the state has been diverting more and more money from the highway fund to help cover the shortfalls.

Since fiscal year 2011, more than $1.3 billion has been transferred from the highway fund, including what are considered “historically routine transfers.” Under Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget plan, that total would climb to $2.1 billion through fiscal year 2017, according to KDOT. That’s more than a quarter of the $7.9 billion transportation plan.

This year alone, the state is transferring $421 million from the highway fund. This includes $650,000 for technical education transportation, $96.6 million for public education transportation weighting, $10 million for special-education transportation, $150.7 million to the state general fund, $9.8 million for mental health grants and $5 million for the Affordable Airfares program.

Jennings noted that KDOT also is transferring $20 million this year to pay back money the state borrowed to renovate the Capitol. It plans to repeat that transfer the next two fiscal years.

“That’s like a credit card on a credit card,” he said Monday.

Instead of raising taxes or cutting spending, Brownback and most lawmakers would rather say “Charge it.”

For the editorial board, Phillip Brownlee

This story was originally published February 16, 2015 at 6:06 PM with the headline "‘Bank of KDOT’ still open."