- "Allowing Kansans to generate their own electricity through Net Metering. Net Metering enables customers to use their own generation and effectively sell back the extra electricity they produce.
- Codification of Kansas’ existing voluntary Renewable Portfolio Standard.
- Requiring that new or extended state leases for real property and state-owned real property meet energy efficiency standards.
- A modification of last year’s Cessna legislation to attract and expand wind related manufacturing investment and jobs to Kansas."
12 Jan - Budget shortfall now projected to be $186 million by June, up from a
projected $141 million in November. Governor Sebelius to give State
of the State address today
13 Jan - State Rep. Dale Swenson of Wichita switches from the Republican
Party to the Democratic Party. Quoted in the LJW saying "I believe
that the Democratic Party has a more serious desire to fix some of the
problems."
13 Jan - State of the State
"Let’s commit to focusing on priorities: investing in public schools and
public safety, continuing basic state services to our most vulnerable
populations, putting Kansans back to work, and including all state agencies in a
dialogue that results in shared solutions."
"Our state’s motto is as true today as it was in 1861. We will overcome our difficulties; we will reach the stars yet again. There will be a better day.
The U.S. and the Kansas economies will rebound, and we’ll return to positive growth. We will create jobs. And the opportunities Kansans have enjoyed for generations will not go away. This time of shared struggle will result in shared solutions and a stronger Kansas."
14 Jan - A tale of two newspapers
Here are the front page stories of the last two days of theLawrence Journal-World (LJW) and the Leavenworth Times (LT)
Tuesday - LJW - Governor Sebelius gives State of the State address
LT - Linda Scheer retirement party; and a police dog retires
Wednesday - LJW - Sebelius' budget unveiled; Lawrence may lose $1 M in funds
LT - Moran addresses CGSC students; County signs new ins. policy
Well, I guess a speech by visiting Congressman from another district is probably more important to the people of Leavenworth than Kansas budget issues or a 'mere' speech by our own Governor, not to mention the retirement of a dog. At least the Times seems to think so. No stories on the inside of the paper about these events either. Both Moran and Sebelius are expected to run for the US Senate in 2010. Is the Times endorsing early? Even so, residents of Leavenworth and Lansing might be interested in the possibility of their cities losing funds.
19 Jan - Are budget cuts better than tax increases in a bad economy?
"Some state-level policymakers contend that the weakness of the economy means that a state should rely solely on cutting spending, rather than raising taxes. But this one-dimensional approach is not based on sound economics.
Two highly regarded economists — Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University, and Peter Orszag, until recently director of the Congressional Budget Office and now the nominee to direct the federal Office of Management and Budget — wrote during the last recession that spending cuts could actually be more harmful for a state’s economy during a recession than tax increases. This assertion still holds true; Stiglitz recently reiterated the point in a letter (co-signed by 120 other economists) to New York’s governor David Paterson."
full article from the CBPP
27 Jan - "Republicans push through across the board cuts"
see Lawrence Journal-World for details
5 Feb - House passes spending cuts 74-48, cutting spending by $305 million, including
education by $44 million.
11 Feb - "Agencies told to brace for 19% cuts"
17 Feb - Governor Sebelius signs the budget and Republicans release the money they
were holding hostage. The Kansas government had been delaying income tax
refunds and also may not have been able to pay state employees unless money
was transferred from other accounts. A transfer Republican legislators were
blocking.
17 Feb - As previously reported in the Times and the Journal-World, State
Representative Melanie Meier has been called to active duty and will be going
to Iraq. She has resigned and the precinct people of the 40th district will be
meeting to elect a replacement.
23 Feb - Don Navinsky elected to replace Melanie Meier by the precinct people of the '
40th District in a 5-1 vote after an hour of questions and discussion.
24 Feb - Kansas has a new Governor!
At least that's what I conclude after reading Tuesday's Times. In yet another
front page story and picture about Republicans, the Times continues on page 3
talking about how those Republicans were bashing President Obama, the
stimulus and somebody named Kathleen Sibelius. That's apparently our new
Governor, replacing Kathleen Sebelius. Either that or the paper needs to hire
some spell-checkers and proof readers.
Congresswoman Jenkins could use a fact-checker herself as she is quoted
saying "This (stimulus) bill spends more money in one day than we've spent on
the Iraq war since day one." According to my google search, the Iraq war has
cost about $600 billion so far. The stimulus was less than $800 billion, 30% of it is
tax cuts and it is spread over two years. Even if it was spread over the next 150
days that would only be $5.5 billion per day. I guess if you are a CPA, you might
think that 5.5 is bigger than 600.
We also hear that $800 billion is a big scary number, more than $1 million a
day since the day Jesus was born. That's true, but it is kinda small next to
Bush's $1.35 trillion in tax cuts that Jenkins wants to make permanent, even for
people making over $250,000 a year.
13 Mar - Kansas will soon have a new Governor, as Kathleen Sebelius was picked by
President Obama to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. She will remain
Governor until confirmed by the Senate. The Governor's office says that thanks
to the stimulus bill, no further cuts will be needed to balance the budget for
2010.
17 Mar - Attempt to abolish the death penalty in Kansas fails
26 Apr - House Budget Committee proposes another $217 million in budget cuts, about
half cuts to public school funding.
28 Apr - Kathleen Sebelius sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services
Mark Parkinson sworn in as Governor
15 May - Governor Parkinson picks Troy Findley for Lt. Governor. Findley quickly
announces that he will not run for Governor. He also will keep working as Chief
of Staff for the Governor, a job where he makes $100,000 a year and will not
take the $31,313 salary for Lt. Governor.
16 June - Ron Thornburgh drops out of Governor's race. Perhaps making it easier for the
Democrats to beat the more right-wing candidate. In withdrawing though, Ron
does not sound like a moderate. The Journal-World says his statement urges
"Republicans to adhere to principles of lower taxes, less government and more
individual responsibility and accountability." That seems to put him to the
right of the mythical 'compassionate conservative'. Bush claimed that his
administration would not pass by a wounded traveler on the road to Jericho.
Apparently neither would Thornburgh, but instead of helping, he would stop
to give a lecture on 'individual responsibility and accountability.'
30 June - The Journal World reports that the "Governor says to expect more budget
cuts". The budget shortfall has grown to $135 million. Governor Parkinson ruled
out an across the board cut, saying some programs have been cut too deeply
already. Presumably he also ruled out a tax increase, which would require
legislative approval. A $135 million gap could be closed, by a .4% increase in the
sales tax, which would cost Kansans 4 pennies for every $10 we spend. The
Journal World also mentions that KU has raised tuition by 6%, and in related
stories on July 3 write that the Lawrence school district has cut jobs and bus
service and will probably increase taxes by 2 to 4 mils and that Lawrence
residents are facing higher fees and new fees and increases in water and trash
rates.
27 July - Just a rumor, but heard from an inside source that Kansas Government will be
out of money by November. Note to those in charge, the sooner cuts are
made, or taxes increased, the smaller such things will be. Given the past cuts
in spending, it was suggested that it will be necessary to cut pay for state
employees. A pay cut is never welcome, but a small pay cut is better than huge
lay-offs. Just to float an idea, if state employees are hit with pay cuts, why not
cut hours at the same time? Taking an hour from Friday and one from Monday
would cut hours by 5%. Hourly rates would stay the same and workers would
be compensated for lost income with extra free time. Dean Baker has
suggested something similar for the entire nation.
April 26 - Governor Parkinson promises to veto any budget bill
that makes deeper cuts to school funding.
April 17 - Marti Crow announces she is retiring. Nancy Bauder
announces that she will file for the 41st district as a
Democrat. Her likely Republican opponent Jana
Goodman says she wants to "cut taxes". So Kansas is
facing a $500 million shortfall and house
Republicans want to cut school spending and
Goodman wants to cut taxes more so we can cut
more money from schools?
March 31 - Governor Parkinson blasts the "Yoder Budget". "The Yoder
budget ... would result in cutting spending in
every school district in the state and at the same
time potentially leading to property taxes in every
district in the state."
March 24 - A bill has passed out of committee cutting the
budget by over $300 million, including $170 million
cut from schools and a 5% cut to State employee
pay, and another 1% cut to state agency budgets.
March 22 - This week the Legislature debates a resolution that
would put an amendment on the ballot for Kansas
to opt out of the health care mandate.
March 16 - Governor Parkinson appoints Chris Biggs as
Secretary of State
Feb. 17 - Senator Tom Holland officially runs for Governor
Feb. 14 - Fifty car pile-up on I-70 near Bonner Springs. Is there a connection to
budget cuts? K-Dot said it happened too fast to prevent, but with
extra money they might have been able to be pro-active. Snow
removal is another service that government provides and cannot do
as well on a tight budget.
Here's a story from last December. It says:
"Enjoy the dry roads while you can, because soon sleet and snow will slow you down. And once the snow starts falling, Kansas roads may stay slippery longer. KDOT says the $50 million recently cut from its budget will impact how well it treats the roads."
So a bunch of cars got smashed, people got injured and maybe killed,
but thanks to Republican legislators at least their taxes didn't go up
by ten cents for every ten dollars they spend. I believe that's called
being penny wise and pound foolish.
Feb. 5 - More news on budget cuts. Today's jobs report notes that the
economy only lost 20,000 jobs in January. This is much better than
last year, when the economy lost about 600,000 jobs in January. The
report notes that state and local governments cut 41,000 jobs in
January. If not for budget cuts the economy would have gained
21,000 jobs last month. A very small gain, but every job gained means
more consumers for businesses which has a positive effect, while
every job lost has a negative effect. If it is a jobless recovery, then
Republican policies are helping to make it so.
Jan. 25 A recent article in the Leavenworth Times illustrates the double
impact of budget cuts as they write about the Alliance Against Family
Violence. First, the loss of jobs "The financial hardship has led to
cuts to programs and training for the organization. Ferguson said four
staff members have also been let go because of the budget situation."
Second is a loss of important services. "But more than jobs being lost,
she said the deep cuts to the budget affect those who rely on the
Alliance the most — those families seeking a safe place from abusive
situations."
Jan. 16 - Meleanie Meier is re-appointed to the Kansas House by a 40th she said the deep cuts to the budget affect those who rely on the
Alliance the most — those families seeking a safe place from abusive
situations."
district convention after Don Navinsky resigned, as promised.
Jan. 11 - Governor Parkinson gives state of the state address, calls for a
temporary 1% increase in sales taxes. Republican State Senator
Colyer declares that all economists agree that tax increases are bad
during recessions. As noted below, that is not true.
Dec. 28 - Governor Parkinson has been making more budget cuts in order to
keep the state solvent. He also has floated the idea of tax increases.
As I noted back in January some economists are in favor of that.
"19 Jan - Are budget cuts better than tax increases in a bad economy?
"Some state-level policymakers contend that the weakness of the economy means that a state should rely solely on cutting spending, rather than raising taxes. But this one-dimensional approach is not based on sound economics.
Two highly regarded economists — Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University, and Peter Orszag, until recently director of the Congressional Budget Office and now the nominee to direct the federal Office of Management and Budget — wrote during the last recession that spending cuts could actually be more harmful for a state’s economy during a recession than tax increases. This assertion still holds true; Stiglitz recently reiterated the point in a letter (co-signed by 120 other economists) to New York’s governor David Paterson."
full article from the CBPP"
Also back in November, Leavenworth School District supported a lawsuit against the State Government over budget cuts to the schools.