State budget woes got much worse

Some in Topeka insist Kansas has a spending problem. Wednesday’s latest bad fiscal news showed the state has both a revenue problem and a leadership problem.

Pragmatic decision-making will be needed to restore order, predictability and stability to state finances now that the state’s economists have lowered estimates for total tax collections by $177 million for the current fiscal year and by $171 million for fiscal 2017.

It inspired no confidence that Gov. Sam Brownback was absent for the unveiling of his administration’s plans for closing the newly forecast $300 million budget gap.

The options proposed for legislative consideration all sounded familiar and bad: more draining of the highway fund, the delay of a payment to the state pension fund, securitizing some future tobacco settlement funds into some quick cash, a $57 million reduction to K-12 schools, another higher-education hit, and 3 to 5 percent spending cuts to state agencies.

The economic “headwinds” mentioned by state budget director Shawn Sullivan are real, especially in the energy, agriculture and aviation sectors. But they’re also why Kansas law calls for a 7.5 percent ending balance.

They further confirm why Brownback and the 2012 Legislature shouldn’t have pushed through the reckless income tax cuts, including the full exemption for nonwage income now benefiting more than 300,000 business owners.

Better judgment will be needed as Brownback and lawmakers try to repair the budget and end the session. And as miserable as the situation is, it will worsen should the Kansas Supreme Court rule that K-12 school funding remains inequitable.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 7:04 PM with the headline "State budget woes got much worse."