It's Time for House Republican Leadership to Show us Their Plan

Statement

Believe it or not, we're now two-thirds of the way through our 90 day legislative session. It seems like just yesterday that I delivered the State of the State speech to open the 2010 Session.

In that speech I talked about the one billion dollars that I had to cut from our $6 billion budget. The cuts were difficult, but necessary. They were painful to Kansans receiving services through state programs, but not crippling. However, I concluded with the warning that we could cut no more. Any further cuts to our elementary schools, our universities, public safety programs or our safety nets would cause just too much damage.

Unfortunately, we face yet another $400 million budget shortfall. We either have to cut $400 million from programs we have already decimated, or we have to raise taxes.

So, I proposed an increase in the cigarette and tobacco tax. It makes sense to me that we should raise that tax to the national average of $1.34 a pack. And I proposed a one-cent sales tax for three years. We don't need it forever, but we need the revenue to fund our schools and safety net while we work our way out of the recession.

The legislators pretty much uniformly rejected my suggestions. I knew that they would and this didn't bother me. They are part time. I had the advantage of working full time on these budgets and knew from that work that there was not $400 million more in cuts that we can responsibly make. I predicted that as the legislators worked with these budgets they would come to the same conclusion.

And, I was partially right. Leaders in the Senate have recently announced that they agree with me. So, in a reluctant, but responsible manner, they have proposed a variety of measures to raise revenue to fill the budget hole.

However, we have heard no plan from House Republican leadership. The Speaker and others in leadership continue to say that we can cut our way out of this. My response all along has been: show me where we can cut. If they can show me any cuts that we can responsibly make, I'll consider them - but they have to be responsible cuts.

Yet, they can't, or won't, show a plan. It's time; we deserve to know the House Republican plan to cut $400 million from the budget. It's their job. You are paying them, just like you are paying me, to lead and come up with solutions. What is their solution?

It's not enough anymore for the Speaker and others to just say we can cut. Show us the cuts. If you can't, then it's time to come to the reluctant conclusion that the Senate leadership has come to.

As an aside, I find it somewhat comical/frustrating that the House leadership has declared that the State is "addicted" to spending. Since I've become Governor, all I've done is cut spending. I've cut more spending than any Governor or legislator in Kansas history. So, if I'm addicted to spending, I'm doing a pretty terrible job at feeding my habit.

There are only 30 days left in this session. It's time to stop reading the talking points from "think tanks" and time to start leading.

-Mark

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