The new estimates Thursday complicate the budget picture for Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and the GOP-dominated Legislature.
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The report covers cash assistance, foster care and Medicaid’s health coverage for the poor and disabled, which cost the state $1.1 billion annually.
The Topeka Capital-Journal (http://bit.ly/1PfhXGm ) reports superintendents were sent a message from the Kansas State Department of Education on behalf of the Division of Budget. The list also includes diverting $50 million in funds for highway projects to general government programs – something the state has done repeatedly when the budget gets tight.
Asked at the news conference if the state was effectively in the red, Sullivan said, “We’re basically at zero now”.
The Kansas Supreme Court is preparing to weigh arguments in a lawsuit that claims the state’s school districts are inadequately funded.
Media attorney Nathanael Berg says the public has an interest in who’s selected to be magistrate judge and how they are selected.
Since the current fiscal year began in July, tax collections have been short of expectations by about $78 million, or 4.1 percent.
“We’ve drained” the state’s coffers, said House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs, Democrat of Kansas City, Kan. Faced with shortfalls earlier this year, the Legislature approved increases in sales and cigarette tax to fill the hole.
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“We’ve just had colossal mismanagement for the last several years”, Hensley told reporters.
