Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) on Tuesday unveiled his plan to solve his state’s serious financial woes: dramatic budget cuts to state agencies by 4 percent and move $201 million from specific funds to Kansas’s general funds.
Those actions, according to the Kansas City Star, will open up $280 million Kansas can use to fill its budget deficit, which analysts projected to be about $279 million by the end of June 2015.
According to Reuters, $201.5 million would be taken from other funds and moved to the general fund and $78.5 million will be saved by cutting as much as $40.7 million from Kansas state contributions to the retirement system for public employees.
Brownback, before the 2014 election, was believed to be uniquely vulnerable (even in deep red Kansas) because of his decision to pass and implement steep tax cuts.
Those tax cuts motivated even some of the more moderate Republicans in the state to swing support behind Kansas House Democratic Leader Paul Davis. Brownback, however, won re-election and has since then had to face the state’s serious budget problems.
