Advocacy group says Brownback budget fix will hurt poor children, families

Kansas Action for Children once again challenges administration’s actions and motives

by Jim McLean, KHI News Service

A nonprofit advocacy group that frequently tangles with Gov. Sam Brownback on policy issues is charging that his latest plan to avert a budget shortfall will shortchange some of the state’s poorest and most vulnerable children.

Shannon Cotsoradis, president and CEO of Kansas Action for Children, said the Brownback administration’s plan to sweep $9 million from a fund earmarked for early childhood programs will reduce their funding by about $1.3 million over the next 18 months.

The sweep of the money was one of several adjustments announced last week by State Budget Director Shawn Sullivan to fill a budget gap created by ongoing shortfalls in revenue collections. At the time of the announcement, Sullivan said the sweep would not reduce funding to any of the organizations supported by the block grant.

“Really, no one outside of state government will notice an impact from this change,” Sullivan said. “It’s more of an accounting transfer.”

Cotsoradis is challenging Sullivan. She contends that grant letters already sent will have to be revised to reflect reductions in available funding of 6.5 percent in the current budget year and another 3 percent next year.

“The reality is they (the programs) will definitely feel these reductions,” Cotsoradis said. “It’s not just an accounting maneuver where we’ve moved money from one period to the next — it’s gone.”

At-risk children
Organizations potentially affected by the reductions include school districts, mental health centers, public health departments and Head Start programs that provide or help fund initiatives for at-risk children and their families.

“It (the block grant funding) is dedicated 100 percent to at-risk children,” Cotsoradis said. “So, in many communities across the state, we are taking money from the most vulnerable and youngest children who are often living in the poorest families.”

The money for the early childhood grants comes from payments that the nation’s major tobacco companies agreed to make in 1998 to settle a lawsuit filed by Kansas and 45 other states. The settlement payments are deposited into the Kansas Endowment for Youth, or KEY fund, from which annual transfers are made to the Children’s Initiatives Fund.

Impact disputed
Sullivan and others in the Brownback administration continue to insist that the planned sweep will not reduce funding for the early childhood programs.

“This one-time adjustment should not result in a reduction in grant funding or (in) the services delivered through them,” said Eileen Hawley, the governor’s spokesperson. “This adjustment allows the Children’s Cabinet to meet its obligations under its current grants; aligns these grants with the correct accounting period; and ensures the state remains in compliance with its cash basis and budgeting law.”

The reference to “the correct accounting period” is a key phrase in Hawley’s statement. At issue is money that was reallocated from fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2016.

Sullivan insists that money could only be spent to cover expenditures made in 2015.

“It was discovered over the summer that the Children’s Cabinet had been doing what we call encumbering funds from the last fiscal year … inappropriately,” he said at last week’s briefing on the budget.

The use of the reallocated funds by the Children’s Cabinet violated state law, Sullivan said.

But Cotsoradis said the nine-member Children’s Cabinet, which administers the block grant program, was led to believe it was OK to use the carryover money in 2016.

“We knew there was money reallocated from 2015 to 2016 and we included that in our grant awards slate,” she said. “The budget division was well aware of that. Then, they swept the money after the grant-award letters went out without doubling back to make sure all those grantees would be whole.”

Arguing that the sweep had been planned for months, Cotsoradis points to a decision made by state officials requiring several grantees to change their operating calendars to align with the state’s fiscal year. The state’s sudden insistence on a common operational calendar created a pool of unspent money at the end of the 2015 budget year

“In retrospect, it certainly looks like the fiscal year was altered to free up resources that could be swept by the administration,” she said.

The nonprofit KHI News Service is an editorially independent initiative of the Kansas Health Institute and a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor reporting collaboration. All stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to KHI.org when a story is reposted online.

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Piper results

Piper High School– musical
– Capacity crowd and amazing performances by all
– Two shows left tonight at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m.

Piper Middle School – girls basketball vs. Lexington Trail
– Piper 8A won 53-3 and B won 24-10
– Piper 7A won 42-8 and B won 32-2

– From Doug Key, Piper High School activities director

Legends Outlets opens new pop-up gift store

The Legends Outlets has a new pop-up store this week.

Go! Calendars, Games and Toys has opened this week for the holiday season across from Old Navy at 1829 Village West Parkway, T-107, in Kansas City, Kan.

The new pop-up store has 2,931 square feet.

The store carries affordable holiday gifts including calendars, games, toys and puzzles.

It joins many other Legends Outlets stores offering a selection of holiday gifts, including Books-A-Million, Kitchen Collection, Gamestop, Cavender’s Western Outfitter, Beauty Brands, Sports Nutz and KC Soda Co.

More than 75 leading retail destinations are at The Legends Outlets, including the only area Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th store, J.Crew | crewcuts, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, Cole Haan Outlet, Gap Factory Store, Coach outlet store, Nike Factory, Polo Ralph Lauren Factory store, and the recent additions of Watch Station and F21 RED, among many others.

Go! Calendars, Games and Toys is America’s premier seasonal retailer of calendar, game, and toy products. The stores have the best selection of calendars and calendar products in the known universe, whether it’s the hottest boy band or a favorite dog breed. Go! Calendars, Games and Toys also carries a variety of toys and games for the family, from the most popular to the hard-to-find, and prides itself in carrying hundreds of award-winning toys recognized by the Parent’s Choice Foundation, GAMES magazine, Dr. Toy and MENSA Select.

For more information about Go! Calendars, Games and Toys, visit www.calendarholdings.com.

– Information from The Legends Outlets