Tom Warne Report, 25 January 2013
The governor of Kansas is under scrutiny for tapping the Kansas Department of Transportation as a bank to pay for other agency’s projects, according to critics from the Democrats in the Kansas Legislature and other observers. Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposed budget, released last week, would transfer KDOT funds to pay for $107 million in student transportation costs at the Kansas Department of Education, $9.7 million to mental health services and $5 million to subsidize low-cost flights at the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport for the state’s Affordable Airfares Program.
The Kansas Department of Transportation says it can still afford the scheduled transportation projects in spite of the governor’s raids, because of low interest rates and bids coming in below estimated costs, according to the Topeka Capital Journal.
Former Gov. Mark Parkinson and other Democrats in the state have a history of transferring KDOT funds to other uses.
Kansas is not the first state to have its transportation funds used to balance other budget needs. In fact, California has a long history of borrowing out of moneys that were “intended” for transportation but diverted to other state obligations. TW