Chuck Weber: Legislature has duty to prioritize budget needs

“Caught between a rock and hard place” doesn’t begin to describe the challenges facing legislators in Kansas. The 2017 record-high tax increase and state budget is now prompting more questions, concerns and uncertainty than ever before.

Last year’s bi-partisan, center-left school finance plan added $500 million in new K-12 spending over two years. That’s still not enough, according to the Kansas Supreme Court. Lawyers and lobbyists, funded by your tax dollars, continue to sue Kansans for more.

Lost in the struggle over how much of your household paycheck is consumed by government are students, families and teachers. Shouldn’t this be at the heart of our educational mission? And will the Supreme Court really try to close our schools if they don’t get their way? Maybe.

The latest “remedy” carries an additional $600 million taxpayer price tag for already overburdened Kansas taxpayers. That’s on top of last year’s record $1.2 billion retroactive income tax hike. Not surprisingly, there’s little appetite among my colleagues for still higher taxes.

So without higher taxes, how do we satisfy the demands of this Court? Fiscal experts at the non-partisan Kansas Legislative Research Department tell us all other state budgets must be slashed a minimum of 18 percent.

How does that massive budget cut impact the elderly, disabled and mentally ill? What about corrections officers and prisons? Will hospitals, senior centers and DMV stations move to the chopping block?

What about strategic investments in programs at Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research, designed to meet aviation employment demands? The President and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents recently testified that draconian budget cuts translate into a tuition hike of more than 40 percent for students at Wichita’s KU School of Medicine.

One crucial legislative initiative — the elimination or reduction in our regressive sales tax on food and groceries — is likely dead on arrival. Even with no new money into education, roads or agencies, the Kansas state budget is still projected to run a deficit by 2020.

As the father of three teachers, I see and experience first-hand why education is paramount to success. Our adult son with an intellectual disability and my elderly mother living under our roof are daily reminders of another moral obligation — securing the safety net for the truly needy. Most Kansans experience the same reminders.

It’s not easy, but citizens rightfully expect their government to balance the budget. In my household and yours, we make tough decisions and prioritize needs. State government should be no different.

To ensure strong schools and excellent services, we must allow the Legislature to fulfill its constitutional duty to balance and prioritize needs, much like your family budget. Article II of the Kansas Constitution exclusively delegates the power to appropriate and levy taxes to the elected legislative branch – not the unelected judiciary.

And under no circumstance should that unelected judiciary compel or even threaten closure of Kansas’ public schools. Let’s vigorously debate the path forward for education in Kansas, but closure should never be an option. I will join my colleagues in the legislature to ensure this Court never stands between your child and an open schoolhouse door.

We must protect the integrity of the people’s government. I am confident that together, like generations of Kansans before us, we can and will overcome the obstacles ahead.

This story was originally published January 7, 2018 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Chuck Weber: Legislature has duty to prioritize budget needs."