(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Aug. 3, 2015)
OK, it’s now time to get serious about the wide range of issues that unfolded last week: The $67 million in budget shifts and swaps and the first, though not representative, receipts from higher taxes approved by the Legislature last session.
For all the hoopla about the budget cuts announced last week by Budget Director Shawn Sullivan—that $50 million cut that was a key to getting the Legislature out of Topeka—it was actually a pretty workmanlike effort. Lots of shuffling of money around, taking back funds that weren’t spent last fiscal year, that sort of thing.
Most notable, and probably important, for all the cutting and shifting of money, nothing got worse.