This disaster has been brewing for months and we're just two days away from the end-game.
As of this writing, Kansas state workers will have already been notified that they will be furloughed this weekend unless the state legislature comes to an agreement.
Kansas’ Republican-dominated Legislature has been sharply divided over measures to fill a budget shortfall initially projected at $800 million in the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Stalled talks over tax increases and spending cuts to fill the gap has driven the lawmakers into overtime, and nonessential state workers will be furloughed at 12:01 a.m. Sunday if a budget is not signed by then, according to the Department of Administration’s website.
The best solution for closing the state's deficit would have been to rescind Governor Sam Brownback's signature income tax exemptions for businesses but, as expected, it appears that the legislature will close the budget hole with another massive spending cut.
The House approved a budget Wednesday that would shrink the projected deficit to about $406 million, and Senate leaders have said the chamber could consider an alternative proposal that would fully balance through a 5.9 percent across-the-board cut.
Yet another spending cut won't actually fix the problem, it only only delay it. The state will face a similar scenario next year as state revenue continues to plummet under the economic regime of Sam Brownback.
If it's any consolation to the state employees who will lose their jobs and the poor people who will be cut off from assistance, another spending cut means state officials and lawmakers won't have to violate their pledge to Grover Norquist. So there's that.
