Legislative Update Week of March 15, 2010

House Republican Budget

The appropriations committee has been working for weeks to craft a responsible policy that curtails government spending and restores the balance between the private and public sector while maintaining critical services. The solution offers a combination of new budget policies with a positive fiscal note to the state combined with cost-saving measures within the largest parts of our budget.

The plan reduces spending, promotes job growth, protects education and core services for the disabled and public safety and avoids the Governor’s proposed record-breaking statewide tax increase.

There is absolutely no need for Kansans to face a tax increase to solve the budget crisis in Kansas. We cannot afford the Governor’s spending increases. Through good policy, further efficiencies, and better money management, we have identified more than enough in savings and recovered revenue to span the gap without damaging our economy with statewide tax increases.

A few of the key elements of the bill are:

• Ending the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years with a balanced budget that is not dependent on tax increases or allotments.
• Preventing the Governor’s tax increases which will only hurt Kansan families and businesses that are already struggling, delaying the state’s recovery during this recession.
• Increasing the public safety budget which will reduce the KBI DNA backlog.
• Reducing the physically and developmentally disabled waiting lists, unlike the Governor’s recommendation of a hard freeze on the lists.
• Protecting our public education budget by freezing state spending at current levels and allowing more flexibility and total spending than the Governor’s proposal. This is made possible without being dependent on the onetime 2009 federal stimulus money which goes away in FY 2011.
• Targeting reductions instead of large across the board cuts. Larger expenditures in the budget are able to absorb cost saving measures much more efficiently.

We resisted adding new government spending in the 2011 budget and have listened to Kansas taxpayers and will not allow the growth of government to continue unchecked. Adding to the budget when revenues are down and not sufficient to support the current spending level is irresponsible. This has never been a revenue problem; this budget crisis was caused because state government could not control spending. Positive policy changes and identifying waste were the keys to this proposal. Balancing the budget by increasing the taxpayer burden would have accomplished little except to delay economic recovery in Kansas.

Democrats can no longer, in good conscious, tell their constituents that there is no choice but to raise taxes. The Senate’s inclination to fill ¾ of the budget hole with taxes is flawed and, contrary to the mantra of the Democrats; the answer to a spending problem is not taxes, taxes, and more taxes. We now call on the Democrats to put aside the unproductive partisan attacks they’ve engaged in all session and support our balanced plan or finally bring a plan of their own to the table. Their strategy of stalling debate until the last days of the session is an insult to Kansas taxpayers.

Democrats Delay Debate on Taxes

As expected, the House expressed no appetite for increased taxes after limited debate on H.B. 2549, the Secretary of Revenue’s proposal to eliminate a number of important sales tax exemptions. However, after Republican amendments restored such sales tax exemptions as those for religious organizations and for residential utilities, a Democrat motion blocked further debate on HB 2549. Democrats sent a clear message that they would conceal their support for massive tax increases until late in the session, presumably hoping that the Senate will send over a tax package that they can vote for and avoid the committee process as they did last year. The procedural motion postponed the tax bill until May 3rd, potentially the last day of the legislative session, this left the House Appropriations Committee without any indication of whether, or to what extent, there will be additional tax revenues to fund the 2011 budget.

Pro-tax legislators pushed to prevent any action on the bill for 7 weeks with the intent of forcing the House to first determine what money is to be spent without knowledge of available revenue. In this fashion the budget will likely be inflated, becoming a wish list instead of being grounded in sound fiscal principles. Once a bulked up budget is approved that spends more money than the state has, pro-tax legislators will argue they need to raise taxes on Kansans significantly to fund the spending decisions. Increasing taxes on Kansans already hard hit by this recession would add insult to injury.

As the bill currently stands, it only removes the exemption on coin operated laundry facilities. It has now become a shell for any new initiatives favored by the pro-tax legislators. To prevent onerous tax increases, House Republicans crafted a responsible balanced budget that slows government spending, strikes a balance between the private and public sector, and maintains essential government services, all without a tax increase.

It is an honor to serve you in the House of Representatives. I would be happy to discuss these or any issues with you individually. Please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Rep. Owen Donohoe

39th District Kansas