March 15, 2019
K-12 School Funding, Senate Bill (SB) 142, was a point of controversy on the Senate floor. The bill is an attempt to satisfy the Kansas Supreme Court in the Gannon lawsuit. You may ask, “another K-12 funding increase”? Remember, over one billion dollars has been added to K-12 funding in the past two years. SB 142 would be another increase of over $90 million. At first, the plaintiffs agreed to the bill. Then they decided it wasn’t enough. They want a $360 million increase, the $90 million plus $270 million more. According to an article in the Wichita Eagle, John Robb, lead attorney for the school districts, said, “I agree the optics are terrible, but I can’t look the other way on the $270 million for schools because the optics may look bad.” The optics look terrible and the facts look even worse.
In the past ten years, K-12 funding has increased $1.7 billion! In the past twenty-five years, the number of full-time students has increased approximately 10%, the number of classroom teachers increased approximately 15%, while the number of managers increased approximate 36%, and other non-teacher positions increased approximately 40%. We must start looking at how the money is being spent and managed. Is the money getting to the classroom and the teachers? With the amount of money we pay for our schools, there should NOT be any teacher paying for supplies.
SB 142 allows the Court to continue appropriating from the bench without concern for our property taxpayers, infrastructure, prisons, and other obligations. The Kansas Constitution puts sole responsibility of appropriations with the Legislature and I will continue to stand against the Court’s Constitutional overreach. It was disappointing that more Senators chose to cave to the Court’s overreach. One Senator said, “this is my final offer”, as he voted Yes. I’ve heard that before and the schools and Court just keep coming back for more. The bill passed 32 to 8. I voted No.
Tax: SB 22 addresses the state tax increase that is a result of the 2017 the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Many states, including Kansas, should change their tax laws in order to avoid a state tax increase. The Senate passed SB 22 and sent it to the House. The House added additional tax legislation. The Senate voted 24 Yes and 16 No to accept the House changes. I voted Yes. The House additions to SB 22 lowered state sales tax on food by 1% and added an internet sales tax that requires out-of-state vendors to pay Kansas sales tax. SB 22 is now on the Governor’s desk. If the bill does not become law, individual taxpayers will have an estimated $50 million increase because they may not be able to itemize deductions and businesses will have an estimated $137 million tax increase if they bring overseas money to Kansas. Several other states have passed legislation avoiding a state tax increase, including our neighbors to the east – Missouri.
It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your 12th District State Senator.
Caryn