Kansas Governor Sam Brownback says his administration will unveil $50 million in state budget cuts this week. He says those cuts are required as part of a bill passed in the Legislature this year.
When Kansas lawmakers were working to pass a final tax deal, they added a clause requiring the $50 million cut from the budget as a way to help get conservative Republicans on board.
When asked last week if Kansas could cut another $50 million without layoffs or hurting state services, Governor Brownback didn’t have much to say.
“I’ll have you do that analysis this next week when we show you the actual ones,” says Brownback.
But he did say the cuts won’t include K-12 school funding. He also says his administration has been looking for savings in what he calls the “back offices,” like consolidating IT services in state agencies.
“Historically, we’ve had separate IT functions. That’s costing a lot, it doesn’t deliver any better services,” says Brownback.
Brownback says those kinds of long-term savings won’t be enough to cover the short-term need to cut $50 million.