By Mike Shields, KHI News Service, May 04, 2010
TOPEKA — After an off-and-on debate that lasted 11 hours, House members rejected by wide margin the budget plan favored by House GOP leadership.
Forty-seven Democrats were joined by 27 Republicans in voting against the measure which called for about $5.4 billion in general fund spending in fiscal 2011, or about $14 million less than for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.
House Republican leaders said their plan, despite the shrinkage, included slight increases in spending for K-12 schools and social services without requiring additional taxes. But Democrats, including Gov. Mark Parkinson, said the plan would underfund both schools and social services. It called for spending about $429 million less than the governor recommended.
House leaders have been in a stand-off with the governor, the Senate leadership, and apparently a majority of their own chamber over the question of raising taxes almost from the beginning of the session. The governor has threatened to veto any budget that cuts education or social programs, which he has said were reduced enough over the past two years.
But House Republican leaders persisted in calling for no new taxes and instead built a plan that relied on some uncertain future revenues, spending shifts and cuts.
"Many here would like to increase taxes regardless the impact on the economy," said Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Overland Park, opening the debate about 11 a.m. Yoder is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which crafted the bill.
The vote rejecting the plan, which came about 10 p.m., showed there might be more than 70 votes for a tax increase in the 125-member House.
House GOP leaders said increased taxes would hinder the state's recovery from the recession.
But House Democratic Leader Paul Davis of Lawrence called their plan "short-sighted and irresponsible."
And some rank-and-file Republicans were outspoken about their frustration that leaders were putting off necessary tax increases and setting the stage for a repeat of last year when the House failed to produce a budget and instead adopted one crafted entirely by the Senate.
Rep. Bill Otto, R-Leroy, voiced that concern loudly on the House floor during the debate after it became apparent to most that the GOP leaders' plan lacked support.
"This is another sad day under this (Statehouse) dome for Kansas," Otto said. "We might as well be in Nebraska, folks. We're not doing anything here but sitting on our behinds. We're just sitting here drawing a paycheck. We're not interested in doing the right thing for the people of Kansas. We're not here to do anything on the budget except wait for the Senate."
And as the evening dragged on, discussion in Republican caucus meetings grew a bit tense when some members said they wanted the chance to produce an alternate proposal so that some House-favored policies would at least stand a chance of making it into the final spending plan for the coming fiscal year.
House members had been scheduled to debate taxes on Monday but agreed to postpone that debate until they had worked a budget bill. As it turned out, neither chamber has yet approved a budget or a tax plan.
The Senate is scheduled to debate its budget and tax bills on Wednesday. The Senate tax plan would raise about $350 million, mostly by increasing the state sales tax 1 percent to 6.3 percent.