I had anticipated that this would be my last report of the 2008 legislative session. However, the House and Senate budget negotiators failed to reach agreement on the final budget bill Saturday evening and we adjourned until Monday. The differences between the House & Senate on the final budget are significant. The House, on Saturday, rejected the Senate’s version of the budget by a vote of 116-4. The House had hoped that Senate negotiators would agree to stay and continue working on a compromise, but when the Senate learned that the House planned to adjourn to allow the remaining lawmakers to return to their districts Sunday, the Senate adjourned and Senate budget negotiators broke off negotiations. So, it appears that no further progress on the budget will be made until sometime Monday and it’s likely the session will extend into Tuesday or possibly Wednesday, depending on their progress.
The budget stalemate is disappointing as the House has agreed to give the Senate over 60 of the Senate’s positions on the final budget while retaining only about 20 of the House positions. Two powerful Senators are still holding out for special projects for their districts; projects that the House has overwhelmingly rejected. Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt wants $39.5M in bonding authority for the Department of Corrections to build additional prison space, including an $11.4M facility in the Senator’s district. Our bed space projections show we have no need for the additional bed space and won’t have a need for the foreseeable future. The community of Yates Center has candidly admitted that it wants a substance abuse prison facility built, not because of a demonstrated need for bed space, but rather for economic development reasons. Such a facility would create jobs for the region. The Senator has made funding of this unnecessary bed space a higher priority than other critical state funding needs.
Senator Dwayne Umbarger, the Senate Ways & Means Committee Chairman, has insisted that we include $750,000 in funding in the budget bill to build a road and entrance to the abandoned Parsons Ammunition Plant. The State has no interest in the property but the Senator wants the State to fund the road and entrance project rather than have it funded locally or privately. These two personal projects have held up negotiations and have caused a good deal of bitterness among lawmakers who want to wrap up the session and return home.
While budget negotiators continue their work, the House is working on one more attempt to salvage the session’s energy bill, including authority for Sunflower Electric to build their proposed energy plants. The plan is being rolled into an economic stimulus package which includes economic development projects still in play. One piece has state bonding assistance for an intermodal rail project in Johnson County near Gardner, some economic development assistance for Hills Pet Food Company in Topeka, and an IMPACT aid program for new and expanding businesses that would provide some corporate tax relief and allow for a mechanism for the state to accumulate funds to create incentive packages to lure new businesses to the state. It is hoped that the package will succeed in garnering enough voters to withstand another veto by the governor which could be overridden when the legislature returns for the ceremonial adjournment May 29.