Kansas’s budget crisis continues to dog Governor Sam Brownback, reports the Topeka Capital-Journal. And the problem can be traced to one issue: After drastically cutting taxes, the state government failed to adequately cut spending as well. In fact, the state of Kansas set a record for general fund spending last year. The Capital-Journal says the problem would have been solved by a one-time 8.5 percent reduction in state government expenditures. But lawmakers continued to fully fund programs in their districts, resulting in a lopsided arrangement between taxing and spending.
“Legislators did not want to reduce the cost of government,” said Dave Trabert, president of the conservative Kansas Policy Institute. He added that if legislators slashed spending, they would lose their jobs. Many Kansans rely on the programs that would have to be cut to meet the financial requirements of lower taxes.