Kansas views on State of the State, budget deficit, mental hospital
State of the State – Gov. Sam Brownback tried his best on Tuesday to deflect attention from the enormous, self-inflicted problems confronting his state. It didn’t work. Brownback’s 2016 State of the State address will go on record as one of the biggest shams of his administration.
Gov. Sam Brownback’s public omission of the budget shortfall, a problem legislators identified as the most important matter they will address in the 2016 session, reflected an alarming lack of leadership.
Budget deficit – If Gov. Sam Brownback was looking for applause lines during Tuesday’s State of the State message, there’s probably a reason he didn’t offer many details about his plans to address the state’s projected budget deficit. The plan outlined Wednesday by budget director Shawn Sullivan is a continuation of the governor’s strategy of using short-term patches to close the remaining $14 million budget gap for the current fiscal year and a projected $170 million gap for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Nothing the governor promised in his economic experiment has panned out, as ultraconservatives’ ideology-driven strategies continue doing more harm than good. Blaming others won’t change that sad reality.
State hospital – Unless the state is willing to build another hospital for the mentally ill, it should commit itself to Osawatomie State Hospital and invest the funds necessary to make that institution work well. Losing Osawatomie altogether would be the worst thing that happened to Kansas in many, many years.
This story was originally published January 17, 2016 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Kansas views on State of the State, budget deficit, mental hospital."