Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback speaks to a meeting of fellow Republicans in the
Kansas House during a GOP caucus, Wednesday, March 30, 2011, at the
Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Brownback is urging House Republicans to put aside
their reservations about a proposed state budget so that it passes.
(Photo by John Hanna, AP)
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — After weeks of committee deliberations, the House was set Thursday to debate its version of the 2012 Kansas budget, armed with marching orders from the governor to get it done.
The bill outlines some $14 million in spending for the fiscal year beginning July 1, which includes spending about $6 billion in state revenues. It closes a projected $493 million shortfall in the next fiscal year without raising taxes.
Late Wednesday, the House Republican caucus took recess from its session to hear Gov. Sam Brownback speak, urging the 92-member delegation to get its work finished on the budget.
"I do need your support to get this done now," Brownback told the 92-member GOP caucus. "We have to do this and we have to show the people of Kansas we can govern. We have to show we can govern as a party."
House members are considering a proposed $14 billion budget that would create an ending balance of some $80 million. Senators approved their version Tuesday with about $8 million in reserves.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback tells fellow Republicans
in the Kansas House that they should put aside
reservations about parts of a proposed state budget
to pass it, addressing a GOP caucus, Wednesday,
March 30, 2011, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan.
Brownback says the GOP must show it can
govern. (Photo byJohn Hanna, AP)
One other key difference is the cuts to public schools. The Senate cuts state aid to the 289 Kansas school districts by $226 per student, while the House cut is $250 per student. Brownback has recommended $232 per student.
The governor said he didn't speak to the House caucus out of a sense that the budget process was in trouble. He also said he wasn't picking sides between the House and Senate versions.
The Senate plan comes closest to the governor's own proposal, which would eliminate a $493 million budget shortfall and save about $7.5 million. Brownback said Kansas had to get its fiscal affairs in order, and developing the right policies takes time.
"It's probably going to take some hard swallowing," he said.
Republican House Speaker Mike O'Neal said the governor's call for a budget was helpful on the eve of Thursday's budget debate.
"Everybody's got their different ideas how the budget should look," said O'Neal, who's from Hutchinson. "I'm not asking for a particular budget, all I'm asking for is a budget."
He said it was important that the House and Senate get a budget in front of negotiators before a scheduled recess that starts Saturday. That gives them time to find a compromise and digest new revenue figures set to be released April 15 by a group of economists and researchers.
Conservatives said the message they took away from Brownback's remarks was not to back off deeper spending cuts, just to get the governor or Senate to agree.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback urges fellow Republicans
in the Kansas House to work together to pass a
proposed state budget during a GOP caucus, Wednesday,
March 30, 2011, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan.
He came to the caucus on the eve of the House's
debate on the budget. (Photo byJohn Hanna, AP)
"I don't know if it was helpful or not. It's going to be a legislative process and we're going to do what the House is going to do," said Rep. Anthony Brown, a Eudora Republican. "I do think it resonates with some Republican members when the governor comes and says, 'We need a budget.' Whatever it is, we have to have a budget."
Rep. Owen Donohoe, a Shawnee Republican, said Brownback seemed to invite more cuts and wasn't discouraging the process.
"No, he said, 'Bring more cuts. I'm open.' That's what he said since Day One," Donohoe said.
House Minority Leader Paul Davis said Brownback's action suggests there is dissention among his fellow Republicans.
"Most of it's coming from the extreme right that believes that we need to make more devastating cuts to essential state services," the Lawrence Democrat said.