TOPEKA, Kan. _ The financial forecast in Kansas shifted dramatically Thursday as state officials projected a $345.9 million budget hole for the current fiscal year.
The latest news came from the state's consensus revenue estimating group. That collective includes members of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's administration, the state's legislative research department and economists from Kansas universities.
Kansas Budget Director Shawn Sullivan had said earlier this year that Brownback would not be making across-the-board cuts when he gives the Legislature a budget in January.
He said Thursday that Brownback will present a budget to legislators in January, and wouldn't elaborate on what the governor planned to do given the dire financial news.
The November report also included initial estimates for the next two fiscal years. Brownback can use those figures as his administration prepares the upcoming budgets for some of his final years in office.
A similar report by the group in November 2015 had already trimmed estimates for the 2017 fiscal year by $194 million. The group's report last April further slashed that estimate by $134.7 million.
The 2016 campaign season in Kansas focused heavily on the state's financial struggles in recent years, with moderate Republicans and Democrats alike pointing to the governor's earlier tax cuts as a reason for the lagging revenue numbers. Shortly before the election, Brownback continued to stand by the 2012 tax cuts, which took around 330,000 limited liability companies off the state's tax rolls.
