Kansas Lawmakers Prepare for Budget and Tax Work Next Week

Some Kansas legislative committees have been working on budget issues in advance of the full Legislature returning to Topeka next week. Senators have approved spending plans that avoid cuts to state services and include targeted spending increases, but there will still need to be a tax increase to balance that budget.

Republican Carolyn McGinn, the Senate’s top budget writer, says she hopes they approve enough taxes to fund the budget they built without trimming it back.

“I feel like we did a very thoughtful job on the budget. I felt like it was something that we did that was frugal, but at the same time it started down the road of fixing some of the structural problems that we have within our state,” said McGinn.

Lawmakers are considering how to eliminate budget shortfalls totaling nearly $900 million by the middle of 2019.

Read more: http://kansaspublicradio.org/kpr-news/kansas-lawmakers-prepare-budget-and-tax-work-next-week