Takes bipartisanship to fix state’s finances

When the Legislature convenes in January, one-third of the seats will be filled by someone new. The election results show that many voters recognized the serious financial trouble in Kansas and now expect a change in direction. But will they get it?

But to successfully alter the situation, lawmakers must take a big risk and do something that does not come naturally to politicians – gather a bipartisan coalition and reform the tax system to raise revenue.

State finances have so soured that the current budget sunk $350 million underwater even after record amounts were taken out of the highway fund and large spending cuts were unceremoniously applied to universities and Medicaid providers. This leaves Kansas schools and other key state services highly vulnerable to another round of debilitating cuts.

Kansas simply does not have enough revenue to pay even a constrained set of bills. The 2012 income tax cuts unbalanced the Kansas budget from the moment of implementation, but the situation has become especially dire today, because lawmakers emptied reserves and exhausted other one-time budget maneuvers in earlier efforts to patch up the budget.

We have few options left. Without more revenue, lawmakers must make deep cuts to the bone in state programs.

In the 2017 Legislature, moderate Republicans and Democrats now have enough numbers in each chamber to pass policy changes, if they work together. But forming coalitions becomes challenging whenever there’s hard medicine to swallow. Kansas lawmakers will face headwinds as the Trump administration and a Republican Congress attempt to pass the very kind of tax legislation on a national scale that Kansas seeks to undo here.

Then, even if tax policy changes pass the Legislature, the governor may not sign the bill. But despite the barriers, lawmakers must forge ahead, because the stakes for Kansas are enormous. The financial sickness will not heal up on its own without corrective action.

At a minimum, lawmakers must make revenue equal expenses, which requires ending the LLC loophole as well as enacting a package of other financial corrections.

Can lawmakers work across party lines to enact change? Will the governor sign a bill rescinding at least a portion of the 2012 tax cuts? Unless the answer to both questions is “yes,” the financial suffering of Kansas will worsen.

This story was originally published November 26, 2016 at 5:05 AM with the headline "Takes bipartisanship to fix state’s finances."