Support for KS water likely not forthcoming

It doesn’t look as if 2020 will be a watershed year in terms of financial relief.

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October 7, 2020 - 8:48 AM

TOPEKA — Five governors and the Kansas Legislature have collaborated for more than a decade to ignore state law requiring allocation of $8 million annually to support policy and programs aimed at maintaining the state’s water supply.

It doesn’t look as if 2020 will be a watershed year in terms of financial relief.

The Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly agreed to appropriate $6.9 million this fiscal year to support the state water plan, but the governor responded to a projected revenue shortfall by slashing $1.1 million allocated to the Kansas Water Office. It’s not clear if 2021 Legislature and Kelly have wiggle room to restore that money in the next year or so.

Sen. Carolyn McGinn, a Sedgwick Republican and chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said much would depend on the November update of state tax revenue forecasts. In April, economists and state officials said Kansas could expect to collect $1.2 billion less over a two-year period than previously anticipated. Kansas is constitutionally prohibited from operating deficits.

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