As Kansas lawmakers sift through Gov. Laura Kelly’s budget, questions remain over how much state funding the state’s universities and colleges will receive.
The proposed budget calls for a 5.5 percent decrease in state funding for Kansas State University, which would be the most significant reduction in funding since 2009. State Sen. Tom Hawk of Manhattan says those cuts could likely go further if the Republican controlled majority in the legislature has its way.
“If they do some of the things that they want to do, I just don’t think this is the right time to do those kind of revenue cuts, if you give away the tax money. I hope sanity prevails but they do have the votes to pass it – I’m not sure they have the votes to sustain a governor’s veto,” Hawk said during a legislative spotlight interview on KMAN Friday.
In a controversial move Wednesday, the Kansas Board of Regents unanimously approved a temporary policy that gives university CEOs more power to suspend or fire employees, including tenured faculty. The move largely attributed to the pandemic, budget cuts and declining enrollments. Regent Mark Hutton of Wichita says he does not see this as a threat to tenure.
“Tenure does not mean a job guarantee regardless of financial circumstances. It’s there to ensure the academic freedom that we highly value, and handcuffing our ability to ensure financial strength in the name of tenure, is counter to its purpose,” Hutton said.
The measure will remain in place through the end of 2022.
Sen. Hawk says he remains hopeful that some federal dollars could help ease the anticipated budget tightening for higher education institutions, including K-State.
“If we can find ways, either through the new federal dollars or some more state general fund money to fill in what I think is a huge hole for KU and K-State, I hope we can do that,” he said.
In terms of the rest of the budget, Hawk says the governor has proposed refinancing its KPERS obligation.
“We could do that, and that would give us enough budget flexibility so we could continue to support K-12 education, higher education and our social safety net,” he said.
As for new avenues for generating revenue into Kansas, expanded sports betting will be one measure the legislature could potentially look at.
A growing number of legislators appear to favor betting on sports events and online sales of lottery tickets. Sen. Hawk says the hang up in the past has been with casinos who want to control the measure, and thus the revenue from it.
Hawk estimates expanded gambling would only amount to about 4 to 5 million dollars annually in new revenue.
Last year the bill got some debate but due to the session being cut short, it did not go any further. Hawk anticipates it has a good chance of getting through the legislature and signed by Gov. Laura Kelly.
