The final budget agreement reached earlier this year in the Kansas Legislature requires the governor to make $50 million in additional spending cuts. Governor Sam Brownback says those reductions will be announced next week.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Brownback gave few details about the plans beyond saying K-12 school funding will not be reduced. He did say he has told Budget Director Shawn Sullivan to look for efficiencies inside government agencies, such as merging IT services.
“We want to look at all of our systems approach to see if there’s ways we can save resources, particularly on back-office operations. I want to get as much out to delivery of services as we can,” says Brownback.
However, Brownback says those types of long-term savings won’t be enough to make the full $50 million in cuts required under this year’s state budget.