The lead budget writer in the Kansas Senate has proposed creating a new budget option for lawmakers that includes additional spending cuts. Republican Senator Ty Masterson has proposed a new budget plan with an additional 6 percent cut to virtually all of state government.
Lawmakers are now 13 days into overtime. The Senate has failed to pass tax increases to close a budget gap for the fiscal year that's about to begin, so Masterson says it's time to put some budget-cutting options on the table.
“We have to make it match; we have to have our ends meet. If we can’t accomplish it in one direction, we have to go the other,” says Masterson.
The budget agreement already reached by a House and Senate conference committee includes spending cuts but spares K-12 schools from additional reductions.
The new plan with an additional 6 percent cut would impact everything in state government except debt payments, and would eliminate the state’s budget deficit at the expense of state services.