Emperor Brownback tunes his fiddle, awaiting torch bearers to leave Topeka ...

[Excerpt] ... Because the Kansas Constitution requires the budget to be balanced, Brownback has three options if no tax plan passes: veto the budget measure, which raises the threat of a partial government shutdown; use his power to veto individual spending lines, although those often contain most or all of an agency's state funding; or invoke a state law that allows him to avert a deficit by cutting spending when lawmakers are not in session.

Budget Director Shawn Sullivan told lawmakers Monday that unless they increase taxes, Brownback is likely to choose the third option. "The most likely option is across-the-board cuts" of 6.2 percent of the amount lawmakers budgeted for each agency or program, Sullivan said.

The state's budget problems arose after lawmakers cut personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging in an effort to stimulate the economy. ... [End of Excerpt]


Read more APNewsbreak: Kansas budget chief lays out possible cuts by John Hanna and Nicholas Clayton.