The Kansas Budget Puzzle provides visitors to the KHI website with a slightly simplified version of the fiscal year 2012 budget approved by legislators and Gov. Sam Brownback and the official forecast of how much the state expects to collect in taxes and fees.
To illustrate how different priorities can influence decisions about spending and taxes, KHI is inviting representatives of various constituencies — from business organizations to social service advocacy groups — to create alternative budgets for the 2013 fiscal year.
The first guest is Shannon Cotsoradis, president and CEO of Kansas Action for Children. After completing the budget puzzle, Cotsoradis answered a few questions about her choices.
What are your budget priorities?
Cotsoradis said three goals topped her list:
• Ensure access to health care through the safety-net system. She chose to double funding for free and safety-net clinics in the Health Agencies and State Hospitals budget category.
• Provide low-income Kansas families with access to good nutrition. “So I eliminated the sales tax on food,” Cotsoradis said.
• Increase base aid per pupil “because a strong workforce starts with high-quality education.”
How did your priorities change while working on the puzzle?
“I was struck by how difficult it is to make revenues and expenses balance at the end of the day,” Cotsoradis said. “You have to make tough choices with an eye toward the long-term prosperity of the state.”
What choices were the most important or difficult?
“I zeroed in on the income tax, because I would like a system that is progressive,” she said.
For the fiscal year 2013 budget, Gov. Sam Brownback has proposed a change to Kansas tax laws so the state income tax would have two tiers instead of three. The top rate would be 4.9 percent instead of 6.45 percent, while the lower bracket would be reduced to 3 percent from 3.5 percent. The current middle rate of 6.25 percent for people with annual taxable income between $15,001 and $30,000 would be replaced with the 4.9 percent rate.
Cotsoradis maintained the third income tier, which allowed her end up with a balanced budget and $408 million in the bank at the end of the fiscal year.
Piecing together the Budget Puzzle
The state budget is the foundation of virtually all policy in Kansas. So, it should come as no surprise that it also has a big impact on our health.
Because of that, KHI has designed a new interactive feature that puts Kansans inside the budget process. The Kansas Budget Puzzle allows you to make your own tax and spend decisions and build your own version of the state budget.
How others worked the Kansas Budget Puzzle
→ Gov. Sam Brownback
→ Shannon Cotsoradis, Kansas Action for Children
→ Work the State Budget Puzzle yourself at khi.org/puzzle.