Derrick stated that Americans for Prosperity is an organization that promotes limited government and the free market.

The extraordinary attendance at the Tea Parties expressed the frustration of many people who aren’t necessarily active in politics. As the news of the spending from Washington D.C. permeated our consciences, many people decided enough was enough. It is estimated that approximately 16,000 people attended Tea Parties in Kansas. As the Kansas Legislature began the session by struggling to balance the 2009 budget that contained huge deficits, cuts were made, accounts were swept and every possible dime was analyzed to ensure that there would be a positive balance at year-end on June 1st.

Twenty-three months ago the state had a balance of $934 million. The budget for 2010 adopted by the Legislature will have an ending balance of $17,000 if the 2009 balance holds at $30 million. Between 2004-2008 spending increased by 48%.  Between 2003-2008 the spending increased by 53%. When the Legislature convenes in January 2010, it will again find a deficit to solve before it can even begin work on the 2011 budget.

All agencies were required to reduce spending. KANVIEW shows all revenue and expenditures for every state agency.  This does provide some transparency for taxpayers. Senator Mary Pilcher Cook proposed an amendment that would include K-12 in KANVIEW. The amendment failed. By reviewing the expenditures in every agency the Legislators were able to ask specific, targeted questions about expenditures. For example SRS was asked about $300,000 for landscaping and $800,000 for upscale furniture.

The Flint Hill Center for Public Policy discovered that as of July 1, 2008 school districts have $1.3 billion in unencumbered funds. Since these funds are not in the general fund but are spread out over several special funds, this prohibits the school districts from spending it for any other purpose. These funds range in amounts of $321 for Skyline USD 438 to $133.3 million for Wichita USD 259. The legislature would have to change the rules to allow school districts to tap these funds. The complete data can be found at www.flinthills.org.

School districts find themselves locked into contracts with KNEA. These contracts are not readily available on line but can be accessed through the local school districts.  These contracts most likely preclude any reductions in pay to save the jobs of some teachers.

The outlook for the 2011 budget are grim with projections of approximately $500-$600 million deficit. These reductions are supposed to be made with funding for K-12 off the table. The funding for K-12 accounts for 52% of the budget. There most likely will be a request from some constituents and special interests for increasing taxes in an election year.

As it is spending for Public Safety was reduced by 8% to help save K-12. The Judicial Branch cut spending by $11 million dollars. It was recently announced that the courts would have to shut down one month a year if some of the funding was not returned.

The Legislature did stop the phase out of the franchise tax that accounted for $14 million. The estate tax phase out was halted and continues to be a $10 million tax burden. An increase in the cigarette tax was denied. The cigarette tax was raised to 55 cents in 2002. The first year revenue dropped by 20%. The second year revenue dropped another 5%. That is a 25% shortfall that had to be made up from somewhere else. 

The State of Kansas continued to hire employees even though revenue began falling. The private sector lost 15,000 jobs in 2008. When the President demanded that CEOs stop using corporate jets, the orders for planes in Wichita were cancelled. This can account for 9,000 people losing their jobs.

Americans for Prosperity wrote the “Common Sense Budget Proposal for 2010”. This is a model budget proposal that can be used by state and county governments. It provides for more transparency in the budget process. Americans for Prosperity has proposed that government agencies adopt zero based budgeting every six years. The proposal did not get out of committee.

Kansas has a spending problem. People need to support and stay in contact with Legislators to encourage them in their efforts to balance the budget with a common sense approach without raising taxes.

Note: For information about AFP or to acquire any of their publications, email info@afpks.org. The website is www.afpks.org