Kansas Governor’s Budget Cuts Target Border, Anti-Abortion Program, and ESU Funding

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly vetoed several line items, cutting out funding for anti-abortion programs, deploying the Kansas National Guard to the border with Mexico, and another earmark for Emporia State University’s enrollment-cratering “model.” Her actions resulted in the loss of tens of millions of dollars from the state budget.

If two-thirds of the lawmakers in both chambers agree, the Legislature may vote to override any veto issued by the governor.

With the signature of Senate Bill 28, the governor maintained the majority of the state’s $25 billion budget plan. In addition to worker training programs, economic development initiatives, and salaries for state employees, the measure also contains improvements in water infrastructure.

There would be a $3 billion surplus for the state after the budget, based on current receipts. Bipartisan tax cut legislation was vetoed by the governor on Wednesday. The bill would have reduced annual revenue by $520 million, depleting reserves and resulting in a financial deficit for the state in five years. A different strategy that she put up would result in an annual reduction of around $430 million in sales, property, and income tax receipts.

Along with cutting back on extravagant spending, inappropriate spending, and unapproved pet projects that arose without much discussion or explanation, she also reduced the budget, perhaps opening the door for legislative overrides.

Kelly exercised his veto power on a $15.7 million budget bill that would have allowed the Kansas National Guard to be sent to Texas to help with border crossings with Mexico.

“It is my constitutional right to lead the National Guard while on state duty as the commander-in-chief of the Kansas National Guard,” the governor declared. “To direct operations or summon the National Guard is not the responsibility of the Legislature.”

She added that it is a federal matter, and Congress in Washington, D.C. must decide how to handle border security.

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According to Kelly, ensuring that we can safeguard our communities, maintain Guard readiness, and enhance our capacity to respond to domestic natural catastrophes is the deliberate and methodical way a governor uses soldiers when carrying out a federal job.

Saying that government money should not be going to unlicensed pregnancy crisis centers with no medical background, she vetoed a $2 million allocation for the Pregnancy Compassion Awareness Program.

The program run by the office of the state treasurer would be funded going forward. Before the August 2022 referendum on an anti-abortion constitutional amendment, the office gave $2 million to a group whose directors include former U.S. Representative Tim Huelskamp. Huelskamp was connected to an attempt to deceive voters using misleading text messages.

According to Kelly, Kansans “told politicians they should stop inserting themselves in private medical decisions between women and their doctors” after the amendment was soundly rejected.

From the funds designated to support the “ESU model,” the governor withheld $9 million. Tenured faculty members were dismissed by the institution in 2022 under the pretense of a financial emergency; however, the action was later rebranded as an effort to better match course offerings with the demands of prospective students and employers in Kansas.

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As a means of appropriately balancing “the needs of students and businesses in Kansas,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a graduate of ESU who was a member of the same fraternity as current ESU president Ken Hush, has lauded the ESU model.

Hawkins declared this year, when the state budget included an extremely rare $9 million earmark for ESU, that “I truly believe it is the way forward for all higher education institutions in our state.”

All state colleges saw an increase in enrollment of 2% in the autumn, whereas ESU’s enrollment fell by 12.5%.

Kelly stated that she would have preferred money to stabilize all state universities, even though this year’s budget includes an additional $9 million set out for the ESU model.

Governor Abelardo vetoed another line item that would have permitted universities to establish STAR Bond districts without local government approval or revenue requirements.

“The program modifications included in this budget do not sufficiently safeguard local governments’ authority or guarantee the long-term viability of the projects, even though I welcome creative ideas to give the state new prospects for economic development,” Kelly stated.

Aiming to support for-profit private schools, she also eliminated language that would have limited the state’s waiting lists for disability services, funding for foster care and child care programs that prohibited open bidding, and an illegal attempt to divert $1.8 million in federal children’s food funds to pay for toiletry kits in public schools.