2025 Kansas Budget approved by lawmakers - SUBV shares our concerns
- Stand Up Blue Valley
- Apr 7
- 3 min read
We’ve compiled news excerpts detailing the state budget approved by the KsLeg March 27, along with our comments. Links to each news article are listed at the bottom of this post.
Kansas lawmakers last week passed a budget that would put the state roughly $460 million in debt by 2028.
When coupled with the five-year, $2 billion slash to income taxes from last year’s special session, and assorted new legislation that would deliver tax cuts, the state would be an estimated $461 million in the red in fiscal year 2028. That would be a stark departure from the $3.2 billion surplus from a year ago.
*SUBV note: this is how Brownback & Co. crashed Kansas and defunded public schools for years to come. Irresponsible tax cuts necessitated drastic spending cuts. Public school funds were repeatedly cut, at times mid-year.
The budget would fully fund public schools but eliminate funding for training and other items not required under the school finance legal settlement. It also provides just $10 million in new funding for special education services, short of the $73 million commitment made a year ago.
*SUBV note: If Special Education is not fully funded, PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE NOT FULLY FUNDED. When KsLeg does not fully fund SPED, millions of $$$ are moved from General Education services to provide Special Education services. In Blue Valley alone, almost $68 MILLION has been transferred from GenEd to SPED. These MILLIONS of dollars could have funded additional teachers, lowering class sizes. Funds could have been used to increase pay for teachers, paras, school nurses, and other frontline staff, aiding in recruitment and retention. It could have ensured that vital student programs are not cut or reduced.
Emporia State University political science professor Michael Smith believes Republican leadership was able to keep its voting members in line by having them move fast through the bills put on their desks.
"I think that there is an interest in kind of getting things passed before there's enough time for that opposition to build."
According to Witchita’s KAKE News: “For the first time in decades, the session ended this year before lawmakers got the official estimate of how much tax revenue the state can expect to see. Those numbers typically come out in late April.”
*SUBV note: We’ve heard from BV-area legislators that they had to vote on bills so fast they didn’t have time to fully understand them. Is this how responsible legislation occurs?
The budget eliminates funding for the Blueprint for Literacy, an initiative the Legislature adopted last year to train teachers and improve reading levels. The program is a collaboration among the Kansas Board of Regents, Kansas State Board of Education, state universities and K-12 teachers.
*SUBV note: Really?! After some legislators’ complaints about test scores and reading levels were addressed by legislation - creating a new initiative JUST LAST YEAR - this budget doesn’t fund it.
Adam Proffitt, the state budget director, told Senate Democrats that Republicans had taken “an across-the-board shotgun approach” to trimming the budget that lacks strategic planning. And he said he was concerned about adding debt after spending the past few years trying to pay it down.
*SUBV note: The Brownback Legislature’s “experiment” crashed revenues so badly that they had to raise emergency funds by increasing sales tax - including sales tax on food - a mess that took 10 years to undo.
Rep. Nikki McDonald (BV/Olathe area): “a budget is a reflection of our priorities, and I had hoped that we would prioritize our children more.”
*SUBV note: We appreciate legislators like Rep. McDonald who ARE working to prioritize our children and their schools, who respond to constituent emails and attend public forums to give updates and get feedback, and who consider the legislative priorities of the elected BV Board of Education when voting in the KsLeg.
So now what should voters do?
Stay tuned - we’lll issue an alert if there’s additional action you can take.
In the meantime, it’s always a good idea to let your legislators know your views. Find your KS state senator and House Rep here: https://ksleglookup.org
Sign any email with your full name and address.
