It’s safe to say Republicans in the Kansas Statehouse are not pleased with Governor Laura Kelly’s budget plan for the year ahead.
60th District Representative Mark Schreiber of Emporia says the governor’s budget mirrors her proposals from last year in several ways. He says the governor’s renewed call to adjust KPERS repayments is a “non-starter,” and he’s not happy about the higher education budget plan.
51st District Representative Ron Highland of Wamego says there was very little in the governor’s budget that he liked. Like Schreiber, he’s concerned about adjustments to KPERS payments.
HIghland is also worried about the governor’s plan for Internet sales taxes, notably digital sales, as well as plans for “marketplace facilitators” to remit taxes to the state instead of having vendors handle that step on their own. He believes the roughly $85 million in new revenues estimated by the governor won’t happen.
Schreiber says he agrees with Governor Kelly’s decision to reduce the state’s reliance on the highway fund for other expenses by 50 percent this year and completely eliminate that funding option next year.
Both Highland and Schreiber believe the Senate’s push to extend the state’s current emergency provisions will see more involved discussions soon and could lead to more substantial changes to the overall emergency management act. Schreiber says different committees will likely tackle different aspects of the bill, and he wants any adjustments to make emergency response easier for all situations, not just COVID-19.
