Dear Kansas

gotsnowgotslush

skates like Eck
Joined
Dec 24, 2007
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Dear Kansas,

How did Brownback manage to talk his way into your wallet ?


"... budget deficits of 2014 and 2015 appear to have undercut optimism the 2012 tax changes alone were capable of delivering a surplus to the state treasury.

After winning re-election to a second term, Brownback proposed in January escalation of the liquor, cigarette and sales taxes. He recommended modification of other tax policies to close a $700 million budget gap.

The GOP-led House and Senate, following months of political acrimony, voted to impose the largest tax increase in state history and pull the plug on a march to zero income tax. Brownback signed legislation raising taxes about $400 million annually.

In June, the governor and legislative leaders on the Kansas Finance Council agreed to borrow a record $840 million to cover the state government’s cash-flow issues in the current fiscal year.

http://m.cjonline.com/opinion/2016-...utm_campaign=qrec&utm_content=image#gsc.tab=0

The State of the State address delivered by Gov. Sam Brownback failed to identify the top priority the Legislature must tackle immediately in the 2016 session.

The governor failed to mention the budget shortfall Kansas faces. By doing so, Brownback failed to convey a sense of urgency for solving a problem that must be addressed immediately.

The shortfall could reach $19 million in the current fiscal year and at least $175 million over the next 18 months. It is a problem Brownback needed to mention, at the very least. Recommendations on how to correct the shortfall were warranted too.

Instead, the governor chose to ignore a budget crisis legislators must weigh throughout the session. It wasn’t until Wednesday that details of the governor’s budget proposals were unveiled by state budget director Shawn Sullivan during a joint meeting of representatives and senators.

Still, Brownback’s public omission of the budget shortfall, a problem legislators identified as the most important matter they will address in the 2016 session, reflected an alarming lack of leadership.

The Legislature wasn’t the only group hoping to hear proposals on how to boost the budget. So too was the entire state, much of which includes citizens disenchanted by Brownback’s performance.

This was a distinct opportunity for Brownback to step up and convince Kansans that solutions exist to prevent the budget shortfall from threatening public safety and basic services. Particularly when expectations appear bleak.

Before the Legislature convened, Brownback advised lawmakers not to consider tax reforms. His message was that deficits should be addressed through spending cuts or cash transfers.

At the conclusion of the 2015 legislative session, an increase was approved to the state’s general sales tax, from 6.15 percent to 6.5 percent. That was part of a package that hiked Kansas taxes by more than $400 million annually.

The measures were enacted after the state’s treasury failed to meet revenue projections after implementation of state income tax reductions in 2012 and 2013. Those cuts absorbed a previous state surplus, which totaled $500 million.

The fact few resolutions or recommendations regarding the budget shortfall were offered in the governor’s statewide address proved discomforting. By not mentioning the issue, Brownback left legislators dismayed and Kansans bewildered.

Brownback did attempt to paint both a positive portrayal of his administration’s achievements and an optimistic outlook for Kansas. He should as governor.

Potential solutions to the budget problems the 2016 Legislature faces, however, also demand his attention as the state’s leader. That process didn’t begin until Wednesday, when Brownback was absent from the proceedings.


http://m.cjonline.com/news/2016-01-...ls-sam-brownback-experiment-failure#gsc.tab=0


House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs responded Tuesday to the State of the State message by declaring the five-year leadership experiment with Gov. Sam Brownback's to be a "failure" epitomized by misguided tax policy damaging to economic growth, education and transportation infrastructure.



“A majority of Kansans believe, not that the state of our state is bright, but that the state of our state is bleak. They don’t believe our state is on the right track,” Burroughs said in the taped rebuttal to Brownback’s speech to the 2016 Legislature.

He said Kansans from across the political spectrum viewed work of the second-term GOP governor as “one of failure.”


Your children’s class sizes are getting larger. Student performance is eroding. Quality teachers are fleeing the state,” Burroughs said. “The Republican Legislature has been underfunding our schools for so long they have put a whole generation of students at risk.”

Burroughs said the decision by Brownback and the GOP majority in the House and Senate to plunder the Kansas Department of Transportation for more than $1 billion to shore up the state budget would result in erosion of the state’s road infrastructure.

The House Democratic leader said Brownback’s decision to sign into law during 2012 tax reforms that exempted 330,000 business owners from paying any state income tax and triggered deep reductions in individual income tax rates has nearly bankrupted the state. He said the package burned through the state’s budget surplus of about $500 million and triggered back-to-back annual deficits.

In 2015, lawmakers responded to revenue shortfalls by approving more than $400 million in tax increases, primarily by raising the statewide sales tax from 6.15 percent to 6.5 percent. Democrats in Kansas are united in a quest to reduce or eliminate the sales tax on food purchases, Burroughs said.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said Brownback’s speech was laden with political spin that dodged the reality of “a never-ending economic crisis.”

“That’s what this speech was — throwing red meat to the Republican Party,” Hensley said. “The people of Kansas are no longer buying it. This is evident in a recent poll ranking Brownback the most unpopular governor in the country.”


http://m.cjonline.com/news/2016-01-...h-sam-brownback-complete-transcript#gsc.tab=0


Brownback does not seem to be very concerned about the problems that Kansas is having.



When Gov. Sam Brownback concluded his sixth State of the State address Tuesday night with a “timeless question” that the ancients asked of God, he neglected a timely one many Kansans would ask of their chief executive: What are you going to do about the state’s budget problems?

More information is due Wednesday, when his office releases a follow-up proposal to the 2016-17 budget passed by last year’s Legislature. As it is, the shortfalls are projected to be $14 million and $170 million this fiscal year and next, respectively.

But the governor’s failure to speak frankly Tuesday about the state’s fiscal reality was remarkable, if consistent with a speech that was equal parts questionable boasting and Obama bashing.


http://www.kansas.com/opinion/editorials/article54400070.html
 
Best part is the fucking retards in Kansas are going to keep him around for the next 50 years LMFAO!!!
 
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