Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Jan. 30, 2017
Yes, we’ve read them. The dozens of stories about some little agency we’ve never heard of, and aren’t exactly sure just what it does or for whom, which is going to lose money under Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposed budget for the next two years.
While every agency does something that makes life better or safer or at least regulates manicurists, if you go to the big budget numbers on state activity that we notice every day, well, you generally wind up at the Kansas Department of Transportation. That’s KDOT, or maybe the “Bank of KDOT” if you are withdrawing state sales tax revenues dedicated to it and spending that money on other stuff.
Last week, we got the real look at the governor’s plan to make a withdrawal from the Bank of KDOT. Starting July 1, the governor plans to take back $525.3 million in sales tax from KDOT, and the year after $533 million.