Proposed budget solutions come with pain

To its credit, the Kansas Policy Institute isn’t pretending that job growth will eliminate looming state budget shortfalls – as Gov. Sam Brownback and some state lawmakers claim. But the options the free-market think tank has suggested for covering the shortfalls aren’t without pain and negative consequences. In a five-year budget plan it released this week, KPI proposed shifting a portion of the statewide sales tax that was supposed to fund the state’s transportation program to the state’s general fund, as well as transferring $150 million from the highway fund balance. All total, that would be a $1 billion reduction in transportation funds over the next 4 1/2 years. KPI also suggested reducing state funding to school districts and state universities by $148 million and $38 million, respectively, this fiscal year and requiring them to cover that cut by reducing some of their fund balances. “We are trying to calm the fears that many people have that the sky is falling,” KPI president Dave Trabert told The Eagle editorial board. The sky may not be falling, but dark storm clouds are filling the horizon. – Phillip Brownlee

This story was originally published September 18, 2014 at 7:03 PM with the headline "Proposed budget solutions come with pain."