Kansas Governor Sam Brownback is giving few hints regarding his plan for fixing the state’s budget shortfall. Kansas faces a $350 million budget deficit in the current fiscal year.
The governor will unveil his Kansas spending plan in January. Brownback told reporters at an event Tuesday that he isn’t working with lawmakers on crafting the proposal, and he wouldn’t give any specifics about what he’s considering.
“We’re starting to build the budget and we’ll roll all that out in due time and due course. We’re listening and talking to a lot of people about what we need to do. We’ll roll those issues out in due time. We haven’t ruled anything in or out,” says Brownback.
Brownback’s office has said recently that his budget plan won’t require significant spending cuts, employee layoffs or furloughs. That leaves some people speculating that the governor could propose one-time fixes to balance the budget, such as selling off long-term tobacco settlement payments for a one-time lump sum.
Stephen Koranda reports: