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Kansas budget bill signed
Follow up from yesterdayKansas state workers will get paid and tax refunds will go out after Gov. Kathleen Sebelius ended a political standoff Tuesday by approving $300 million in budget reductions. However, Sebelius didn't accept all the Republican-controlled Legislature's proposed cuts. She vetoed a provision that would have slashed school spending by $32 million. Instead, she cut that to $7 million statewide for K-12 education. "This is a responsible way to limit the reductions to schools, to pay our bills and to move this process forward," Sebelius, a Democrat, said in a hastily called late-afternoon news conference. "I'm just sorry we had to have this high drama and worry a lot of Kansans." The bill signing ended a two-day showdown between GOP lawmakers and Sebelius that jeopardized tax refunds and this week's paychecks for state workers. With the bill signed, leading Republican lawmakers said they now can support Sebelius' proposal. They'll meet with the governor today to formally vote on borrowing money from other state funds to meet payrolls and other obligations. "Signing that bill ensures we'll be in the black at the end of the year," said House Speaker Mike O'Neal, a Hutchinson Republican. Posted by: swksvolFF 2009-02-19 |
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