Thank you, Duane Goossen. The reality for our school districts and our children is that their needs are not being met even if overall funding is up. For those who don’t know, Duane Goossen served as the Kansas Budget Director for 12 years in the administrations of three governors—Republican Bill Graves and Democrats Kathleen Sebelius and Mark Parkinson. Goossen is also a former 7-term member of the Kansas House of Representatives (1983-1997). Costs for supplies, electricity, transportation, and teachers’ salaries are all increasing. But for the coming academic year, schools must cover those growing expenses with $548 less...
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Legislators and candidates need to address falling revenues
To hear conservative legislators and candidates talk about it, you’d think the answer is both obvious and easy – cut the budget. But Kansans deserve to know how and where, and with more specificity than the usual talking points about waste and inefficiency and the “proven” power of tax cuts to spur economic growth. And with revenues having fallen off by design, where will the state get the means to respond to legitimate needs, some of them deferred by the recession? The state universities, for example, just outlined $190 million in funding priorities to the Kansas Board of...
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Leave a Comment Kansas to face budget shortfall of $238 million by end of July, 2016
“Kansas will face a budget shortfall of $238 million by the end of July 2016, the Legislature’s nonpartisan research staff said Friday in a new forecast predicting that the gap will emerge a year sooner than it had anticipated.” Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2014/08/08/3588010/apnewsbreak-new-kansas-figures.html...
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Leave a Comment Bloomberg reports tax cuts prompt S&P to reduce Kansas’ rating
Now instead of being told that the tax cuts will be a shot of adrenaline to the KS economy, we are hearing that our tax cuts need to be matched with spending cuts. Tax cuts shouldn’t be a justification for further cuts to school districts. The rating fell to AA, third-highest, from AA+ and the state’s appropriation-secured debt was dropped to AA- from AA, S&P said today. The outlook on both ratings is negative, which “reflects our belief that there will be additional budget pressure as income tax cuts scheduled in future years go into effect, or if...
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