Voice For Liberty

Tag: Kansas legislature

Articles about the Kansas legislature, both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

  • Kansas schools have used funds to increase spending

    Although revenue to Kansas school districts has declined, schools have been able to increase spending by using fund balances. These fund balances have been the subject of controversy, with school spending advocates insisting that they can’t be used in the way that we now see they have been used.

    The controversy over school spending has been played out in the pages of the Wichita Eagle, both on the editorial page and in advertisements placed by public interest groups.

    The group that has placed most of the ads, the Kansas Policy Institute, was mentioned, although not by name, in an Eagle op-ed written by several Wichita-area school superintendents.

    The op-ed states: “This group’s goal is to cast doubt on school funding.” We’ve found, however, that there is plenty of doubt and misinformation about Kansas school funding. A recent poll that KPI commissioned found that very few Kansas residents are well informed about school funding and spending.

    School spending advocates have every motivation to keep the public from learning the facts, as the KPI poll found that when Kansans are presented with the truth about school spending, very few are willing to personally pay more taxes for increased spending on schools.

    As to the controversy over fund balances, a Kansas Watchdog story (Schools Districts Tap Cash Reserves to Increase Spending ) gives more details. (Kansas Watchdog is a project of the Kansas Policy Institute.)

    I spoke with KPI president Dave Trabert about the recent figures released by the Kansas State Department of Education. He said there are several things that Kansans should learn from these figures, the first being that there is good news in these results. Schools have been able to increase spending despite losses in revenue.

    Trabert said that the challenge that schools may have is to find a way to offset half of the loss of federal stimulus funds. In the case of USD 259, the Wichita public school district, that figure is $9.7 million. The recent report from KSDE states that the Wichita district will end the current school year with $14.5 million in its contingency reserve fund.

    Trabert said that the contingency fund provides the funding needed to keep spending at current levels. There is no need to cut anything, including employees. (The Wichita school district recently announced plans to cut 117 employees.)

    While there may be increased costs in some areas that can’t be avoided, districts have options. A bill introduced in the Kansas Legislature would give districts additional flexibility in using fund balances that are not available presently. The bill is HB 2748.

    Even without this bill, Trabert said that school districts can “spend down” fund balances simply by not adding as much to the various funds that school districts have been adding. That’s the other piece of good news: school districts have been spending down the funds that they claim can’t be used.

    By using fund balances, schools in Kansas were able to increase spending by an estimated $320 million in the current school year. Revenue to Kansas school districts declined by about $50 million, but $370 in fund balances were used to boost total spending by $320 million. Trabert verified these figures with Kansas Deputy Education Commissioner Dale Dennis.

    School districts in Kansas also complain that the state is often tardy in making its payments to them. Legislation has been introduced that would require the state to pay on time. The state has the money, Trabert said, noting that if the state truly did not have the funds, we would see plummeting bond ratings for the state. But the state’s policy, as stated in the 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report is “As a cash flow management policy, the State seeks to avoid borrowing from its own idle funds to meet expenditure obligations of the State General Fund.”

    So the money is there, but the state makes a deliberate decision to not pay school districts on time.

    There is still money in funds that can be used for the upcoming school year. Schools should be able to meet their funding needs without asking the state to increase taxes.

  • Kansas sales tax studies are different

    As the Kansas Legislature decides whether to balance the budget through reductions in spending or increases in taxes, two studies of the impact of a sales tax increase have emerged. The two arrive at different conclusions, and it’s important to understand the differences between them.

    The most recent study, produced by Wichita State University economist John Wong found that increasing the sales tax rate in Kansas would preserve jobs, after both job losses and gains are considered.

    The earlier study was conducted by Art Hall, who is Director of the Center for Applied Economics at the University of Kansas. It found that increasing the sales tax rate would result in a large loss of jobs over six years.

    So what is the difference between the two studies?

    Kansas Watchdog’s Paul Soutar reported this: “Both economists were quick to point out that one study is not more correct than the other. They just use different tools to answer a slightly different question. Both agreed that Wong’s study is a static snapshot of the impact of the tax increase in 2011 and does not take into account changes in behavior caused by increased sales tax or project the impact beyond 2011 as does Hall’s.”

    State of the State KS has interviews with both economists and longer versions available only to subscribers.

    In Wong’s interview, he said that the model he used, IMPLAN, is a computer model based on input-output analysis. It seeks to answer the question of what happens when you change one economic variable?

    Wong said that “Anytime you take money out of people’s pockets, that’s bad.” When there’s a cut in state spending, it is felt most directly by users of state services and by state employees who may lose their jobs. The impact is more localized, he said.

    While low income people are affected proportionally more by an increase in sales tax, Wong said that low income people use a lot of state services, and their loss of these services might be greater than the extra sales tax they may pay.

    Wong said that the Hall study did not take into account what would happen if the state reduced its spending. But in his interview Hall contradicted Wong’s contention that his study did not take into account the effect of the extra state spending that a higher sales tax would allow, saying that job losses would have been higher if the effect of government spending was not included.

    In his interview, Hall said that his study looked at a six-year time frame. The findings are that the private sector loses 26,000 jobs, the public (government) sector gains 7,000 jobs, and private sector loses $2 billion in personal income.

    Hall said that Wong’s computer model does not take into account the fact that people will react to tax increases. “It’s as if people are robots, and we know that’s not right,” adding that the model he used tries to account for this.

    Hall further distinguished the two studies: “People do respond to price changes. That’s the core of economics. Professor Wong’s model does not even take that into account. It’s not Professor Wong’s fault. The tool he’s using was really built for other purposes. The tool we’re using is trying very explicitly to take into account what people do when taxes increase, or decrease, for that matter.”

  • Balance Kansas budget without raising sales tax

    The following article is by Dr. Walt Chappell, a member of the Kansas State Board of Education. A version appeared in the Wichita Eagle. Chappell has offered testimony to the Kansas Legislature on many ways that schools can reduce spending and fulfill their mission at the same time. See Kansas school district consolidation, reorganization testimony heard and At House Appropriations, Chappell presents Kansas school funding ideas.

    On Saturday, a legislative update was held in Wichita. It is clear that serious budget decisions must be made in the next two weeks by our legislators.

    Fortunately, existing cash reserves, cost controls and reduced spending can help balance the State budget to keep our schools strong and provide essential services for our most vulnerable disabled and senior citizens. If necessary, additional revenue can come by raising cigarette, alcohol and soft drink taxes without increasing the regressive sales tax.

    As one of the people elected to help maintain strong schools, I am certain that positive actions can be taken to support our teachers and students. The objectives of each elected official I know are not to lay off any classroom teacher. We also want to keep a broad curriculum for our students including vocational courses, art, music, P.E. and driver’s education.

    Here are some facts provided by the Kansas Department of Education and the Legislative Research Office.

    • During the past 10 years, Kansas school district spending from all funding sources has jumped from $3 billion per year to $5.5 billion. This is a $2.5 billion per year increase to teach the same number of students.
    • School districts started this school year with $1.5 billion in carryover cash balances. Of that amount, $700 million were in operating accounts which have increased by 53% in just four years. For example, Wichita schools began the year with $95.7 million in operating cash reserves. It estimates that $66 million remains for next year. There is no budget justification for eliminating any teacher’s job.
    • Spending more money on schools does not produce higher student achievement. During these same ten years, NAEP, ACT and SAT national test scores for Kansas students have remained flat. About 25 percent of our K-12 students still drop-out before graduation. Wichita has 16 of the lowest performing schools yet has a higher than average cost-per-pupil.
    • Only half of the people hired by school districts in Kansas are certified teachers. The rest are non-instructional or administrative staff. With the additional $1 billion the Legislature gave to school districts after the 2005 Montoy lawsuit, 6,000 people were hired. Only one-third were teachers. In the past four years, non-instructional operating costs are up $373 million across Kansas.

    School districts receive 52 percent of the state budget. Legislators must cut education funding to balance the budget. To offset these cuts, school districts can easily use a portion of the hundreds of millions in cash they already have in operating accounts. If more money is needed, they can cut non-instructional and administrative costs. No teachers should be laid off or courses eliminated.

    Our legislators have a tough job ahead. Each of them is trying hard to make sound budget decisions based on facts. We can help them by getting informed and encouraging them to keep essential services without raising sales or property taxes.

    To see district cash balances and test scores, go to Main Issues www.chappell4ksboe.com

  • Kansas House leadership plans to balance budget without tax increases

    A legislative panel at yesterday’s AFP Kansas Defending the American Dream Summit 2010 featured members of the Kansas House of Representatives Leadership presenting the case that the budget can be balanced without increasing taxes on Kansans.

    Speaking first, Representative Kevin Yoder, an Overland Park Republican who is chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said the legislature is trying to balance the Kansas state budget without a tax increase.

    Yoder spoke of the momentum behind increasing government spending, noting that it used to be that if you didn’t get a five percent increase, it was called a budget cut. Arguments were over whether an agency would receive a seven, eight, or nine percent increase in funding. “There are some who always want to spend more, and there are some for who it’s never enough.”

    Yoder said that despite what Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson wants for his legacy, we must pass a budget without raising taxes.

    Yoder said that when times get tough, government has to cut back spending just like businesses and families have had to do. Despite the talk of “bone-cutting,” he said that spending continues.

    He said that in the last year, Kansas lost about 50,000 private sector jobs. But at the same time, public sector jobs grew. “That doesn’t sound like cutting to the bone to me,” he told the audience. There is more waste to be eliminated and greater efficiencies to be found.

    Yoder said that SB 572 is the budget bill that passed out of the House Appropriations committee last week. He said it adds funding for public safety and the physically and mentally disabled. It does not devastate services, he added.

    Speaking next, Olathe Republican Arlen Siegfreid, who is Speaker Pro Tem of the House, told the audience that Kansas has a “fundamentally flawed” budget system. He noted that it has been said from the beginning that the budget can’t be balance without raising taxes can’t be done. But Yoder and House Majority Leader Ray Merrick have shown that this can be done.

    Siegfreid said that it is apparent that the administration’s position is to raise taxes, and it is their only position. Sales taxes, cigarette and tobacco taxes, alcohol taxes, elimination of sales tax exemptions, raising taxes on utilities, and now an income tax increase have been in the mix.

    He reminded the audience that these taxes would be on top of a large increase in unemployment insurance taxes caused by a mistake made by the Kansas Department of Labor.

    The Kansas House Leadership has attempted to help the people of Kansas, Siegfreid said. He listed a number of proposed measures that have not passed, including health care savings accounts, a simplified tax structure, requiring the Department of Revenue to pay a penalty if they delay tax refunds, a property tax bill that did not allow for automatic increases, and the PEAK bill, an economic development bill for very small companies, which was vetoed by the governor.

    The House has led the way over the last several years in creating a good environment for capital in the state of Kansas, Siegfreid told the audience, adding that “We have to have capital investment if we are to create jobs, and what Kansas needs is jobs. … In any real sense, government increases revenue only when business and individuals prosper. We should not depend on tax increases. We should depend on prosperity to increase revenue.”

    Representative Ray Merrick, who is House Majority Leader, explained the political reality in the House. There are 76 Republican members of the House, but Merrick said that on the “very best day” there are 55 who will vote with him, meaning they are conservative Republicans. 63 votes are required to pass legislation in the House.

    He recited the large annual increases in the budget in recent years as evidence that our problem in Kansas is spending, not lack of revenue. Noting that no members of the Senate Leadership are present at the AFP event, he said they are not “of like mind.” (Americans for Prosperity advocates for limited government and free markets.) Their game plan from the beginning, he said, was to not look for savings in the budget, but to increase taxes. Their interest is in growing government.

    While the governor has said he will veto a budget that doesn’t include tax increases, Merrick said we should let him do just that. He added that perhaps the session could be finished by Friday May 7.

    In answering a question, Merrick said that Missouri has a billion dollar budget deficit. Its Democratic governor said that Missouri will balance its budget without raising taxes. Missouri is also considering eliminating the corporate income tax, followed by elimination of the personal income tax.

    Warning of the danger of temporary tax increase such as the Kansas Governor is proposing, Merrick reminded the audience that in 2002 Kansas passed what was to be a temporary increase in the sales tax, but that increase has not gone away.

  • Kansas Senator outlines plan for revenue without tax increases

    Yesterday in Topeka Kansas Senator Ty Masterson, a Republican from Andover, laid out a plan for generating revenue for the state that doesn’t involve raising taxes: The state could sell some of its assets.

    Masterson spoke to about 400 citizens as part of the Kansas Defending the American Dream Summit 2010. This event was produced by Americans for Prosperity-Kansas.

    Starting in January, Masterson said he asked researchers to compile a list of state-owned assets. Three months later he received a rough draft, with the lead researcher saying he was dumbfounded by the project, as the state doesn’t know what it owns.

    State agencies have become kingdom builders, Masterson said, and we began to lose track of the state’s assets. The draft report indicates the state may own between $12 billion and $16 billion in assets.

    “Every responsible business evaluates what it has in hard assets, and decides whether or not to continue maintaining it,” he said.

    Referring to these assets’ ability to generate revenue for the state, Masterson told the audience that selling just one percent of these assets could generate $120 million to $160 million for the state. (The commonly-cited budget “gap” Kansas is facing is around $500 million, although that number is based on funding the governor’s desires for increased spending. The actual gap is much less.)

    Selling assets also reduces operational costs, he added.

    There is also a huge unfunded liability in KPERS, the Kansas state employee retirement plan. The state has income-producing assets that could be sold to KPERS. This would produce immediate revenue for the state’s general fund, and provide KPERS with an investment that produces revenue over the long term.

    In other remarks Masterson reminded the audience that the leadership of the Kansas senate is not conservative, and it may not be possible to gain a majority of votes for a budget plan that does not raise taxes.

    Masterson told the audience its help is needed. “We need you to counter the propaganda machine telling people they will be harmed if taxes are not increased.” People tell him “I want you to raise my taxes,” believing their children will be harmed unless taxes are raised, but these are not the correct facts.

    “It is a spending problem that we have,” echoing other speakers at the event. Kansas state general fund spending in 2006 was $5.139 billion. Three years later in 2009 it was $6.4 billion. The budgets being talked about now are still several hundred million dollars higher than 2006 spending. The propaganda being spread, however, tells Kansans that spending and services are being cut.

  • AFP Kansas summit begins

    About 400 concerned citizens are gathered at the Maner Conference Center in Topeka for the Kansas Defending the American Dream Summit 2010. This event is produced by Americans for Prosperity-Kansas.

    The day of the event coincides with the return of Kansas legislators to Topeka to work on the Kansas budget. Both the Governor and Senate leadership are in favor of large tax increases. The House of Representatives leadership has a budget that is balanced without tax increases.

    “We stand for free market principles,” said AFP Kansas state director Derrick Sontag. “We’re a group of grassroots individuals who stand for limited government. This principle is under attack.”

    Sontag mentioned Wall Street bailouts and cap-and-trade energy legislation as areas of concern. He asked “How many of you went to a tea party because you’re angry about the government takeover of the health care system?” The audience roared with approval.

    He told the audience that many legislators and a large group of taxpayer-funded lobbyists are gathering at the statehouse getting ready to ask Kansans to bear the burden of years of state overspending. This is not acceptable, he added.

    The spending advocates don’t tell taxpayers that the Kansas budget grew by 40 percent during a five-year period. We’ll remind them later today at the rally at the Capitol, he said.

    Sontag said that we have fewer private sector jobs than we did ten years ago, saying that raising taxes now is not a good idea.

    He disagreed with Governor Mark Parkinson’s contention that there is no waste in Kansas government, that the budget is already “cut to the bone.” Sontag said that the Parkinson has demanded that the legislature send him a budget that includes tax increases. He said the best message we can send is “November is coming,” referring to upcoming elections.

    Tim Phillips, President of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, told the audience that tea party opponents said the movement would die away. But Phillips said that our opponents and President Obama should realize that the November elections will be a turning point if conservative activists do their job. “It’s up to us to keep doing the hard work of freedom.”

    Phillips told the audience that Kansas was the first state chapter of Americans for Prosperity. “We wanted a grassroots organization that would stand up and fight for our economic freedom.” He said our opponents want more power, more government, more taxes, and more programs that benefit them and their friends. Those who love freedom want to be left alone, but Phillips said that unless we get involved, we won’t be left alone.

    Do we make a difference, Phillips asked? He said that polls showing 58 percent of Americans wanting to repeal the health care bill is evidence that yes, we are making a difference. The battle over cap-and-trade energy legislation is another example of a victory.

    Other coverage of this event from State of the State KS is at Americans For Prosperity Bring Tax Protest To Topeka.

  • SEIU calls for higher Kansas taxes

    At last night’s meeting of USD 259, the Wichita public school district, a local union leader described his union’s efforts in its attempt to drum up support for tax increases in Kansas.

    Harold Schlechtweg, business representative of Service Employees International Union Local 513, told school board members how the union worked to get people to attend a meeting of the South-central Kansas Legislative Delegation last Saturday. He was specific to the point of reading to board members the slogans on the protest signs.

    He said the union used letters to all classified staff and telephone calls to recruit attendees to the meeting. He used students from the Education Department at Wichita State University to make telephone calls, he added.

    Schlechtweg has asked governments to boost taxes in favor of his union workers before. Last summer he told the Wichita City Council that it should not outsource the mowing and maintenance of city parks. Instead, he wanted the council to keep union employees on the payroll.

    At the time Schlechtweg testified, it was thought that the switch to outsourcing would save the city $1 million annually. Recent reporting by KWCH’s Kim Hynes revealed that the savings are now projected at $1.8 million annually, according to Wichita Parks Director Doug Kupper. So Wichita taxpayers are saving quite a bit by ignoring Schlechtweg’s advice. Kansas legislators should do the same.

    At the national level, SEIU has criticized its opponents for conducting Astroturf campaigns. Astroturfing — meaning organized efforts to create an appearance of fake grassroots interest in an issue — is a common charge of those like Schlechtweg who are in favor of more government taxation and spending.

    Here we see, right in our hometown of Wichita, union-produced Astroturf as SEIU works against the interest of Kansas taxpayers.

  • For one Kansan, hope springs eternal

    Following is commentary and reporting from Patricia Houser, a former resident of Wichita now living in St. Paul, Kansas. She and her husband have five children and two grandchildren. She is active in her church and Boy Scouts of America, and is the Neosho County Republican Party Chair. She says her political activism began with the prolife movement in Wichita’s Summer of Mercy, and dedicates her time helping prolife candidates.

    Lately, I have felt discouraged by the way our current government, on both the Federal and our State (Kansas) level, has displayed an “I don’t care what the people say, I will do what I want” attitude. I am convinced this behavior is not what our Founding Fathers mandated in our Constitution. They wrote “We the People” for a profound reason, the people are the government; elected officials merely serve and represent the will of the people. All elected officials and most bureaucrats have sworn an oath to uphold and obey our Constitution, yet it is obvious that many of these people do not honor the oath they swore to uphold and disregard it, pushing their own agenda instead. We have blindly trusted them to do what is best for us for too long, and unfortunately, they have betrayed us.

    The Good News

    Last Saturday I witnessed something which gave me hope. I attended the Kansas GOP State Committee Meeting. One of items on the agenda was the adoption of the state platform. The committee which wrote the proposed platform held seven town hall meetings around the state for local Republicans to give their input. The committee then put these ideals on paper.

    These ideals acknowledge God as the source of our rights and privileges, call for fiscal responsibility, reduce government’s size and power, limit entitlements, and encourage Americans to retain the principles which have made us strong while developing innovative ideas to meet today’s challenges. The platform was offered for debate. No member of the assembly offered any criticism and it was passed with 111 yeas to only one nay vote.

    Three minor resolutions were proposed. All three were passed. The most contentious moment of the meeting came over whether to spend the money to print the new platform as a supplemental insert to the GOP Handbook.

    What a contrast to our legislatures. My heart was lifted by the near unanimous resolve of the members to honor God and the Founding Fathers’ vision for our country. I was proud to have been a part of this event.

  • Kansas bills, legislature tracked by ‘Kansas Votes’

    The website Kansas Votes provides information about legislation in Kansas as it works its way through the law-making process. This process, which can be complicated, is explained in plain language on this website.

    There is some information about bills available on the Kansas Legislature website. The information there, however, is limited to the actual text of the bill and a terse description of its legislative history. The Kansas Votes site contains additional information and explanation that helps citizens understand bills and the legislative process.

    Here are some features of Kansas Votes:

    • Concise, plain-language, objective and accurate descriptions of every bill, amendment, roll call vote and voice vote.
    • Ability to track all the votes of a particular legislator, or search by bill number, category or keyword.
    • Ability to view all the bills and amendments introduced by a particular legislator.
    • Ability to post a public comment, view others’ comments, and participate in citizen surveys on each bill.
    • Automatically e-mail legislators or others about a bill.
    • Ability to follow action in any one or more of 50 different categories of legislation (such as Education or Land Use or Taxes).
    • Ability to sign up for e-mail notifications of action on any bill or subject area of interest, including new bill introductions.

    Citizens now have a valuable tool to help them follow the action in the statehouse. This is especially important as traditional media such as newspapers devote less coverage to news like this.

    And did I mention it’s free?

    To use Kansas Votes, click on Kansas Votes.