Democratic Governor of Kansas, Laura Kelly, proposed on Wednesday to set aside $600 million of its surplus revenue into a rainy day fund, while spending $1.8 billion on various projects.
Included in Gov. Kelly’s blueprint for state spending through June 2023 are renovations to state office buildings, new health department laboratories, and undoing the financial maneuvers that lawmakers used to deal with previous budget shortfalls, such as the timing of state aid payments to public schools.
Kelly’s spending proposal will likely be met with backlash from the Republican-controlled Legislature, particularly regarding the expansion of Medicaid for the needy, elderly, and disabled, which GOP lawmakers have continuously blocked. Her proposal will also provide a one-time $250 income tax rebate for Kansas residents who filed state income tax returns last year. Although, the $600 million would provide an extra cushion in future years for the state, something top Republicans have recently pushed for.
As Gov. Kelly spoke in her annual State of the State address on Tuesday evening, she emphasized the state’s growth in business and low rates of unemployment, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Her opponents argue that this boom in state economy is due to the billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds, as well as high rates of inflation. Senate budget committee Chair Rick Billinger states, “These dollars can disappear really, really quickly. We cannot afford reckless spending.”
Alongside new government facilities and tax rebates, Gov. Kelly announced a freeze in tuition for Kansas college students. The budget blueprint would have the effect of restoring the state’s spending on higher education to “pre-pandemic levels” with an additional $46 million to account for increases in tuition. This announcement addresses years of concern regarding the increasing costs of college. The state’s Board of Regents attempts to control rising costs of tuition included freezing tuition last fall at five of the six universities in Kansas.
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