Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said the state faces difficult budget decisions in the weeks and months ahead in the wake of a $1.27 billion budget deficit shortfall for the next two fiscal years.
The state received consensus revenue estimates on Monday, and Gov. Kelly said she plans to meet with the state’s budget director this week to discuss the budget, including managing the cash flow.
The shortfall is largely attributed to the effects of stopping the economy in order to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
At a news conference Tuesday, Gov. Kelly said she had already instructed state agencies to freeze non-COVID related hires and identify cost savings to help protect critical investments as much as possible.
“We are cautiously optimistic that we may be able to make some strategic decisions that help offset painful cuts to critical services in the current fiscal year,” Gov. Kelly said.
As the state came into this process, the state had about $900 million in its ending balance, which provides a nice cushion, Gov. Kelly said.
It appears that the state will end this fiscal year with about $200 million in the ending balance, and it’s next year that looks bad, she said. The state could lose $650 million in revenue next year, with the carryover of $200 million it would leave the state about $450 million down.
Gov. Kelly said she includes education in the critical or essential services, and would do everything possible to avoid making cuts to those areas.
The state may be looking at shifting funds around, Gov. Kelly said.
The governor said the federal government Is talking about additional stimulus funds and she hopes some will help states dealing with shortfalls.
Gov. Kelly also said she will work with legislators on the budget.
The state Department of Labor has completed the expansion of unemployment benefits from 16 to 26 weeks, Gov. Kelly said. The extension applies automatically to all claims filed on or after Jan. 1. The expansion was approved earlier by the Legislature.
As of today, KDHE has announced individuals only need two symptoms to be tested for COVID-19, she said, not including fever. The goal is to get more testing done quickly, so treatment can be initiated earlier and contact tracing can begin.
Gov. Kelly said the guidelines for reopening from the White House showed three phases.
Kansas hasn’t gotten to the first phase yet, which includes testing and getting the positive cases out of the general population, then doing contact tracing. Those need to be in place before the state can think about opening the doors. She said the state is working hard trying to get its federal partners to provide the testing.
The KDHE is currently adding to the state’s ability to do contact tracing, she said, with the 400 additional positions.
The state has set midnight May 3 as the time it would like to lift the statewide stay-at-home order, and then it would be up to the local health departments if they would like to do something different, she said.
The state is working on a plan to announce before May 3, she said. However, if everything is not in place, including testing and contact tracing, the state may have to extend the reopening date, she added.
Gov. Kelly also said they need to see that the number of cases has plateaued and the curve is starting to come down. On Tuesday, the number of new cases was 39, which is less than the previous day’s new cases, she said.
Gov. Kelly said the state is working with businesses, including the Kansas Chamber, on guidelines for reopening. Different industries or sectors could have different guidelines, she added.
She said she understands that people are tired, and it is frustrating to not be able to go to work and have a paycheck coming in. While she understands that, she said she has to continue to act in the best interests of all Kansans and their health.
On Tuesday, there were 2,025 positive COVID-19 cases in Kansas, and a total 107 deaths, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Cases were up 39 from Monday. Sixty-nine counties reported positive cases. The number of deaths was up seven.
Wyandotte County reported 430 cases, with 44 deaths, at 3:10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Unified Government COVID-19 website.
Other counties’ reports, according to the KDHE: Johnson County, 384 cases; Sedgwick (Wichita area), 251 cases; Ford (Dodge City area), 187 cases; Leavenworth County, 136 cases; Shawnee (Topeka area), 93 cases; Seward (Liberal area), 80 cases; Coffey (Burlington area), 47 cases; Douglas (Lawrence area), 43 cases; Finney (Garden City area), 41 cases; Lyon County (Emporia area), 38 cases; Riley County (Manhattan area), 28 cases.
To see the governor’s news conference, visit https://www.facebook.com/GovLauraKelly/videos/253168479197216/.
The Kansas COVID-19 resource page is at https://govstatus.egov.com/coronavirus.
The UG’s COVID-19 webpage is athttps://alpha.wycokck.org/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Information.