The Special Committee on Legislative Budget will convene in November and December with hearings on state agency spending requests with the intention of giving lawmakers more time to study the budget which exceeds $11 billion in State General Funds (SGF) and $26 billion the All Funds Budget in Fiscal Year 2025.
According to Dr. Vance Ginn, a senior fellow at the Kansas Policy Institute (KPI), owners of The Sentinel, Kansas, spent nearly $5,000 per resident in 2022, far above all neighboring states except Nebraska. In Ginn’s testimony before lawmakers in October prior to the formation of the special committee, he called for budget reform and said Kansas has a spending problem, not a revenue problem:
“Unfortunately, in Kansas, there’s too much that’s being spent,” he said. “I know that’s why you’re looking at budget process reforms and how to spend less over time to make sure that you have the best use of taxpayer money that’s coming out of the productive private sector.”
KPI will publish its annual Responsible Kansas Budget early next year.
Senate President Ty Masterson has appointed the following members of his body to the committee:
Vice Chair – Sen. Rick Billinger; Chair of Senate Committee on Ways & Means, Sen. J.R Claeys, Vice Chair of Senate Committee on Ways & Means, Sen. Ty Masterson, Senate President, Sen. Larry Alley, Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Mike Fagg, Member of the Senate Committee on Ways & Means, Sen. Renee Erickson, Senate Assistant Majority Leader, Sen. Virgil Peck, and Sen. Mike Petersen.
From the House, appointed by Speaker Dan Hawkins:
Chair- Rep. Troy Waymaster, Chair of House Committee on Appropriations, Rep. Dan Hawkins, Speaker of the House, Rep. Kyle Hoffman, Chair of the House Committee on General Government Budget, Rep. Avery Anderson, Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Public Safety Budget, Rep. Ken Corbet, Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget, Rep. Steven Howe, Chair of the House Committee on Higher Education Budget, Rep. Kristey Williams, Chair of House Committee on K-12 Education Budget, and Rep. Will Carpenter, Vice Chair of House Committee on Social Services Budget.
Upon approval of the special committee, Masterson and Hawkins issued a joint statement:
“We are looking forward to the important and necessary work this committee will conduct in order to make our budget process more effective and efficient while giving us time to ensure that Kansas taxpayers are getting the most bang for their buck.”
Speaker Hawkins later added he was optimistic about the new initiative:
“This committee will hit the ground running by hearing state agency budget requests – making the budget process lots more efficient and effective. The people of Kansas deserve to know where their money is being spent, and giving legislators more time to do their due diligence on that front is a huge step in the right direction. I’m truly excited for the committee to get to work soon!”
