Kansas House, Senate adjourn; Brownback blasts lawmakers

The 2017 Kansas Legislature closed with a whimper Monday after lawmakers declined to try overriding Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of a budget provision limiting the executive branch’s ability to change Medicaid programs serving disabled people.

Fireworks were ignited after the House and Senate departed the Capitol with Brownback’s issuance of a broad rebuke of the Republican-controlled Legislature.

“This legislative session made history, but for all the wrong reasons,” Brownback said. “Passing the largest tax hike in state history, this Legislature passed the biggest budget in state history and they’ve already spent every dime.”

The Legislature previously overrode the GOP governor’s veto of a two-year, $1.2 billion increase in state taxes and the repeal of his signature income tax reductions passed in 2012. On Sunday, Brownback signed the $15 billion state budget bill that closed an anticipated $900 million shortfall during the next two years, but the governor declined to use his line-item veto power to stop ill-advised spending increases.

Read more: http://cjonline.com/news/state-government/2017-06-22/kansas-house-senate-adjourn-brownback-blasts-lawmakers#