The lead budget writer in the Kansas Senate has proposed creating a new budget option for lawmakers that includes additional spending cuts. Republican Sen. Ty Masterson has proposed a new budget option with an additional 6 percent cut to virtually all of state government.
Lawmakers are now 13 days into overtime. The Senate has failed to pass tax increases to close a budget gap for the fiscal year that's about to begin, so Masterson says it's time to put some budget-cutting options on the table.
“We have to make it match, we have to have our ends meet. If we can’t accomplish it in one direction we have to go the other,” Masterson says.
The 6 percent cut includes everything in state government except debt payments. It would eliminate the budget deficit at the expense of state services and leave Kansas with a $50 million ending balance.
