One of the things that government spending advocates don’t like to talk about is the fact that spending in Kansas has risen rapidly in recent years. This is particularly the case for schools, partly due to the Kansas Supreme Court ordering more spending in the Montoy decision of 2005. But other Kansas government spending has risen sharply too.
As long as revenue flowing to the state kept pace, Kansas was able to afford this spending — whether the spending was wise or not. But starting two years ago revenues failed to keep pace with spending, resulting in great stress on the Kansas budget. This year the governor and many legislators are calling for one or more taxes to be increased, or a new tax to be formed, so that spending can continue to rise.
Americans for Prosperity-Kansas has prepared two advertisements that highlight how spending in Kansas has increased rapidly.
The first ad spotlights the rapid rise in spending on schools, both by the state and by all sources of funding. School spending is important to the state, as slightly more than half of the state’s general fund is consumed by K through 12 schools.
The second ad makes the case that Kansas has a spending problem, not a taxing problem. Tax receipts have risen, but spending rose, too.