Kansas Governor Sam Brownback has announced that he will reduce spending on pensions and roads to pay for the $280 million hole in the state budget caused by tax cuts for the wealthy.
Brownback says he must take “corrective action” to close a projected $280 million budget hole created by his income-tax cuts and plans to reduce spending on pensions and highways.
Brownback said in a budget memo this week that revenue is “likely to be insufficient to cover appropriations” in the last six months of the current fiscal year, which ends in June.
The budget moves, which include diverting almost $100 million from highway funds and cutting the contribution to the public employees’ retirement system by $41 million, followed claims of the governor’s opponents that tax cuts approved in 2012 would result in deep spending reductions. http://www.bloomberg.com/...
Brownback is basically making the minimum payment on the electricity bill just to keep the lights on another month.
The big bill will come due in the next fiscal year, which starts in July.
The Legislative Research Department said next year’s shortfall, initially expected to be $436 million, would be closer to $600 million because many of the changes in this first round of cuts can be made only once. http://www.kansas.com/...
Brownback was on the defensive Wednesday facing criticism from leaders of his own party. He basically said cutting KPERS was the best way to prevent cuts to education and Medicaid.
“It’s kind of, uh, well where are you going to go for the funds? And I don’t like it, but it’s kind of what’s your other option if you don’t hit K-12 and higher ed with allotments?” Brownback said. “It’s also one of those things where we’ve made a lot of progress on it, but we’re at a point where it’s difficult to sustain right now.”
http://www.kansas.com/...
That's rich! Where are you going to go for the funds? Gee, uh, maybe the rich people to whom you gave a 26% tax cut?
How the people of Kansas could reelect this con is beyond all reason.