TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Fully funding schools, raises for law enforcement and tax cuts for Kansans are all included in Governor Laura Kelly’s state budget for FY 2023.
On Wednesday, Jan. 12, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says she announced her budget recommendations following three she gave in her State of the State address on Tuesday night. She said this budget builds on years of work by her administration to restore Kansas’s fiscal prosperity, grow the state’s economy, expand the workforce and invest in the health and safety of Kansans.
“Fully funding K-12. Closing the Bank of KDOT. Balancing our budget. This is what the people of Kansas elected me to do,” Gov. Kelly said. “This budget not only restores state funding for critical services, it cuts the state sales tax on food. I encourage the Legislature to waste no time and send me a clean bill to Axe the Food Tax.”’
Kelly said her budget fully funds K-12 schools for a fifth straight year and makes historic investments in workforce training and higher education to ensure Kansans are ready to enter the workforce. Through Medicaid expansion, she said the state not only nets millions in enhanced federal matching funds, but it also allows more people to remain in the workforce and boosts local economies.
The Kansas Governor said recognizing that some revenues could be one-time-only, the budget makes several investments to reduce debt and increase structural balance, including paying off KPERS and other debts accrued under previous administrations, providing taxpayers with a $250 rebate and making one-time investments and capital improvements in the state’s public safety, corrections and juvenile justice systems.
On Tuesday night, Kelly recommended a freeze in college tuition increases, eliminating the state’s tax on food and Medicaid expansion.
Kelly said other highlights of her budget include the following:
To view Kelly’s full Kansas budget recommendations for FY 2023, click HERE.
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