As always, it is an honor to represent District 6 in the Kansas Senate. If I can be of service to you or anyone you know, call my office at 785-296-7375, or email me at [email protected] or feel free to visit me in 125-E at the Kansas statehouse.
In this issue:
• Senate passes budget
• Governor signs block grant bill
• Proposed school finance formula
• Eliminating conceal carry permit
This is the last week before first adjournment of the 2015 session. They have changed the start of the veto session to April 29. That gives the budget committees more time to work through the new revenue estimates and finalize things.
Senate passes budget
Last week the Senate passed a budget for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years. HB 2135 spends over $6.4 billion each of the next two years. This was about $70 million more in spending than the governor requested. However, revenues are projected to be $5.8 billion. If you look at the Senate budget on paper, it shows an ending balance of $72 million for 2016 and $164 million for 2017. But that’s all smoke and mirrors.
The budget they passed includes $400-$500 million of new revenues that have not yet been approved. It includes fees charged to medical providers that are not approved yet. It does not include the fact that we are $38 million behind projected revenues for this year and revenues continue to decline. It shows income from KPERS bonding that is not yet approved and overstated at that.
The budget also includes hundreds of millions of dollars of “one-time” fixes like borrowing from KDOT. The bottom line is the budget passed is not sustainable or constitutional.
Here are some budget details:
Both the House and Senate start with the governor’s recommendations from back in January and make their own adjustments. Each house passes a budget then they conference to work out the differences. Here are some items from the Senate bill:
• They cut funding for K-State by over $3 million and KU by over $4 million. Pittsburg State gets an extra $1 million for its school of transportation and Ft. Hays gets $16 million for a new Institute of Applied Technology building.
• Major changes are made to the comprehensive grant program that provides $16 million in scholarships to Kansas students. Today $8 million goes to students attending private universities in Kansas and $8 million to students attending public universities. In the Senate budget, $13.3 million goes to private university students and $2.4 million to public university students. Here is how many public university scholarships will be lost: 915 at K-State; 880 at KU; 560 at Wichita State; 245 at Washburn University; 260 at Emporia State; 315 each at Ft. Hays and Pittsburg.
• They cut the Children’s Initiatives Fund by about $5 million, mostly in the area of reading programs.
• The Senate added $3 million to hire a consultant to do a study on how to make state government more efficient. There was an amendment to remove that study funding, with opponents saying we have had other studies we ignored. The money stayed in the budget.
Added $4.3 million for Hepatitis C medications for Medicaid patients. One of the key factors in the budget it trying to figure out Medicaid caseload growth and how to fund care.
What’s next? Why should you care?
I wanted you to know the “big picture” about the Senate budget (that is, it is out of balance and unsustainable) because here is what could happen next. The House has its own budget bill, but can choose just to adopt the Senate budget by a “vote to concur” and not debate its own budget. That vote could happen early this week.
The problem is that the House has some things in its budget that the Senate doesn’t and vice versa. For example, Gov. Brownback introduced a program a couple of years ago to give school districts funding for providing training in high school for technical trade certifications. Thousands of students have participated in this program and school districts have been growing the program to help students be career and college ready. This money was scrapped in the Senate budget, but kept in the House budget. They should have to confer and agree on the best path, not just take the easy way out with a budget that cannot be sustained.
Another issue is the funding of the judiciary. The Senate budget includes no funding for the judiciary, hoping they can bully the judiciary into voting against public education to keep its funding. The budget should reflect our priorities, and this one does not.
Governor signs block grant bill
Gov. Brownback signed a bill last week that eliminates the school finance formula and allocates a block grant to school districts for the 2016 and 2017 school year. My Senate district encompasses all or part of 5 school districts. Here is how they are negatively impacted for the 2014-15 school year:
Kansas City, Kan., Public Schools, USD 500- $1.9 million dollars less
Turner District 202- $339,000 dollars less
Piper District 203- $340,000 dollars less
Shawnee Mission District 512- $1.2 million dollars less
Bonner Springs District 204- $83,000 dollars less
They all will have a greater impact in the next two years as the district’s needs grow. Our schools are already underfunded and this bill exacerbates the problem by removing necessary weightings.
Want to get active?
There are a couple of groups trying to raise awareness by having grassroots rallies at the Capitol this week.
• Game on for Kansas Schools did a 60-mile walk from Kansas City to Topeka to bring awareness to the school funding issue. There was a rally Monday, March 30, at the Capitol. A dozen people made the 66-mile walk from Merriam to the Capitol starting on Friday. Over 75 Kansans joined them in Topeka on Monday. You can check them out at Game on for Kansas Schools.org or like them on Facebook.
• Kansas Action for Children, KNEA, Citizens for the Arts, Women for Kansas and several other organizations gathered at the capitol on Wednesday, April 1, to bring awareness to the state revenue situation. There was a rally in the capitol. They want to bring awareness to the impact of falling revenues on the state. See http://www.khi.org/news/article/kansans-rally-for-repeal-of-brownback-tax-cuts.
Proposed school finance formula
The Senate Education Committee held hearings two days last week on a proposed school finance formula introduced by Sen. Steve Abrams, R-Arkansas City. Senate Bill 294 relies on a per-pupil-based funding system with funding starting at $3,820 for each student. This is $32 less than the current base state aid per pupil. The formula then includes supplemental aids based on poverty, sparsity, pensions, equalization, enrollment, and success. The success portion would require districts to keep track of where students are two years after graduation. Many criticized the current formula for being too complicated, but this bill takes that concern to a new height.
If passed, the formula would be applied to the six innovative districts for the 2015-2016 school year. Then, it would apply to 100 school districts selected by the State Board of Education for the 2016-2017 school year. By the third year, it would be implemented for every district in the state.
There is still a lot unknown about this bill, and with just a week left of regular session, there is not enough time to thoroughly vet a new school finance formula.
Eliminating conceal carry permits
One of the more controversial bills passed last week would remove Kansas’ permit requirements for individuals carrying a concealed firearm. the state’s permit process includes training and an extensive application and background check. The requirements ensure that certain core public safety standards are preserved when people are carrying hidden, loaded guns in public places. As a proponent of the Second Amendment, I am in favor of common sense gun laws, but allowing anyone to carry a gun without adequate training or a background check threatens the safety of our communities. The bill will now go to the governor for his signature.