Here’s a good explanation of what’s wrong with the budget bill the House passed and the legislative response to Gannon from Rep. Melissa Rooker’s newsletter.

Legislative Power to Appropriate

The governor has the authority to make unilateral cuts to the budget if the balance is projected to fall below zero. However, this bill expands that authority if the ending balance falls below $100 million, which is essentially unlimited power since we are currently there. We granted this to the governor last summer, but included a provision to protect K-12 funding from those cuts. This time, the bill does not protect schools – everything is on the table – he can cut whenever and wherever. Those who supported this budget sold out their constituents by giving the legislature’s most important job to the governor. All bets are off.

Keep in mind the budget debate took place on Wednesday, with final action on the bill scheduled for Thursday morning. Before we made that vote yesterday, the Kansas Supreme Court announced their decision in the Gannon school funding lawsuit…

We each swore an oath to uphold the constitution of both the United States and the state of Kansas. Both documents enshrine three separate branches of government, assigning each specific powers to ensure that there are checks and balances. Chief among the constitutional duties of the legislature is the power of appropriation. In turn, the court system is assigned the role of deciding if the laws we pass meet the constitutional test.

It is very clear in this decision that the court has shown the utmost deference to the legislature’s responsibility to appropriate funds while simultaneously carrying out its own constitutional responsibilities. The decision once again invites the legislature to craft a remedy and present it to the court for review, a task solved by restoring the funding cuts made in the 2015 session.

Read the entire update here: http://us10.campaign-archive1.com/?u=ba27a0c5c8adf602327b9fafa&id=cd7ef681f2