Kansas lawmakers don't try to override Brownback vetoes, formally close 2017 session

TOPEKA -- Gov. Sam Brownback lashed out at Kansas lawmakers Monday after they formally ended the 2017 legislative session, saying that “the session made history, but for all the wrong reasons.”

Brownback released a statement shortly after lawmakers formally concluded the 114-day session, criticizing the new tax plan and state spending approved by the Legislature.

“This session marks a drastic departure from fiscal restraint,” Brownback said in the statement. “I trust that future legislatures will return to a pro-growth orientation that will once again set Kansas on the path toward becoming the best state in America to raise a family and grow a business.”

But Brownback, despite having the authority to do so, chose not to make line-item vetoes to strike down major spending in the budget, which he signed into law over the weekend. He also did not use his executive power to make budget cuts himself when lawmakers returned in January and faced immediate budget problems.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article158263899.html