By State Sen. Rick Billinger
R-Goodland
Town Hall Meeting Week: Much of this week was spent traveling across Senate District 40 meeting with constituents. I would like to thank those for attending and appreciate your concerns and comments. Thank you goes out to Farm Bureau for organizing and hosting the town hall meetings. Farm Bureau has been a great support to the 40th Senate District for many years and thank you for organizing these meetings.
I would like to recognize the 4-Hers who were at the Capitol last week. I hope you all learned a little about how the Legislature works. Thank you to the sponsors for bringing these young people to Topeka. Northwest Kansas can be proud of our 4-Hers.
Good news is that February revenues came in ahead of projections. State revenues for February were $314 million, which are $40.6 million above estimates. The additional $40 million will cut the overall shortfall for the 2017 budget to about $280 million, from a budget shortfall of a projected $350 million in November 2016.
The last several months’ revenues have come in above estimates, which will help in making cuts and adjustments for the 2017 budget. Some of the reasons revenues came in above estimates are; 1) individual income tax payment and withholding for February came in at $86 million which was $26 million above the estimate of $60 million. 2) Corporate income tax came in at $6.1 million, $5.1 million above the estimate 3) Sales tax receipts for February were $167.6 million, $7.6 million above estimates. 4) Cigarette tax came in less than projected at $8.7 million, $1.2 million below estimates. 5) Sales tax collected on internet sales on out of state purchases, also referred to, as compensating use tax, were $31.4 million up $1.4 million from projections. The Senate has legislation pending which will hopefully increase sales tax on out of state purchases.
On Thursday the Supreme Court ruled current school funding in Kansas is inadequate. In 2010 four school districts filed a lawsuit against the State of Kansas. The court ruled the State is obligated to provide public education to K-12 students. The justices noted that in Kansas, the “base state aid per pupil,” or BSAPP, had risen from $3,600 in 1992 to $3,890 in 2002 and gradually rose to $4,400 for fiscal year 2009. However, during the recession, appropriations fell steadily, and by fiscal year 2012, the legislature had reduced BSAPP to $3,780, passing on costs of more than $511 million to local districts.
Since 2009, the Kansas State Board of Education has asked that the BSAPP be increased to $4,492. Citing data from the 2015-2016 school year, the court said that nearly half of the state’s African American students and more than a third of its Hispanic students are not proficient in reading and math. More than a third of students who receive free and reduced lunch are also not proficient in those essential subjects. Under court order, last June, the legislature approved a $38 million funding boost for poor school districts.
The Senate Republicans will meet on Tuesday, March 7, in caucus to hear from the experts about possible solutions to satisfy the courts ruling. The Senate and House have been working on a new school funding formula. The courts ruled the legislature has until June 30, 2017 to accomplish this task.