Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

This past summer Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius seemed to be one of the future stars of the Democrat Party. At that party’s summer convention she was mentioned numerous times as a rising star, a female governor for m a red state, from the Republican stronghold of Kansas. This week she demonstrated that she is not ready to lead, in fact she demonstrated why she really isn’t up to the task of governing Kansas.

Early in the week, just ahead of the beginning of the 2005 legislative session, Sebelius gave her state of the state address in which she conspicuously left out any mention of what she would do about education, the most important and possibly most contentious legislative issue in Kansas. Later in the week she released her budget, which did nothing, that’s right nothing to solve the “problems” education faces in Kansas. Sebelius proposed that the amount of per pupil spending stays exactly the same, not even an inflation adjustment; she proposed that the education funding formula stays the same, she proposed no tax increases, oh sorry, I mean “revenue enhancements” for education. However she did propose a budget that takes revenue that traditionally goes to fund education and spend it on the expansion of other government programs.

Sebelius has carved out a nice spot for herself over the past couple of years, decrying the under funding of education, telling us all what an important priority it is to her and the Democrats, and then doing nothing about it. You can count on hearing her attack her opponent during the 2006 Governor’s race over education funding, but you won’t see her stick her neck out to propose a change.

Sebelius did however propose a budget that would spend the increased income (approximately $14 million) the state will receive from property taxes this year on general government spending, including new programs the governor would like to fund instead of education. Traditionally property taxes have funded education. Good schools (along with other important factors) tend to support increases in property values, the increase in property values means increased property taxes for the state. It would make sense to reinvest property taxes into the supposedly under funded Kansas schools. That is not what will happen if the governor has her way. Some legislators are still calling for tax increases for schools, taxpayers are already going to pay an extra $14 million this year due to property values, money that should go to schools, but instead will be spent on things other than the “number one priority” then greedy legislators will go back to taxpayers and ask for more money in the name of the “number one priority”, education.

For years legislators have put schools last on the agenda. Education is normally the last budget the legislature deals with. Education funding has been decided at the end of the legislative session or in the wrap up session the past few years, a funny time to deal with your number one priority. The legislature funds everything else, everything except their top priority, and then they are shocked to find that there is no money left for education and claim we need tax increases.

This year the legislature is dealing with gay marriage first, the Senate has already voted and the House is expected to deal with the issue soon. Before education, before economic growth, before the priorities that really affect Kansans.

Education is the most important issue in Kansas; it is one of the things that make our state what it is and one of the keys to economic growth. It deserves to be first in line for the legislature’s time and the taxpayers’ money, and it deserves a governor who is willing to deal with it before she plans her 2006 re-election campaign.

Timothy Burger