The Legislature is currently in recess until April 28, but the budget committees for both Chambers are meeting this week to put together the budget for next year.
There is a lot of speculation about which Chamber will produce a budget that can actually get enough votes to pass.
Last year, House Democrats and Moderates voted to concur with the Senate budget without giving the House Appropriations committee a chance to examine the budget and make amendments and/or corrections. The result was a budget with no ending balance (read margin for error) and a Judicial system faced with 6 weeks of furloughs for employees.
The Governor was forced to make cuts to the budget on the first day of the fiscal year and again just before Thanksgiving.
There is a chance that this will happen again this year.
House Democrats have been in communication with Senate leadership to see if the Senate will create a budget palateable to Democrats and Moderates in the House.
This will be a most interesting scenario as House Democrats don't seem to want to vote for a tax increase in an election year, but the Senate seems poised to include a tax increase as part of their budget.
The House began the debate on increased taxes fairly early in the session, but the Democrats moved to delay the debate until the last few days of the session.
House Republicans have, for the most part, been very resistant to any proposals for tax increases. This is especially true concerning the administration's proposal to add sales tax to utility bills and remove exemptions for non-profit organizations, laundromats, and churches. The House Democrats seem equally opposed to taxing utilities.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment recently is the Governor's veto of a bill to expand the PEAK program. PEAK stands for Promoting Employment Across Kansas. This is one of the few efforts the Legislature has made to help economic development in rural Kansas.
Most of our efforts have been directed to the urban areas. As a rural legislator, I very sorry our Governor would veto a bill that was meant to bring jobs to our area.
As always, I welcome input from constituents. The best way to contact me is via email: mitch.holmes@house.ks.gov
