THURSDAY,SEPTEMBER5,2002
LABEL HERE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 5A
State revenue collections fall short of expectations
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — State revenue collections continued to fall short of expectations in August, the Kansas Legislative Research Department reported yesterday.
Tax collections from July 1, the start of the 2003 fiscal year, through Aug. 31, were nearly $37 million short of projections made by state officials and university
economists in March — about $600 million instead of the $637 million predicted.
Many state officials and legislators have expected the bad budget news to continue into the fall.
The state also didn't receive an $11.5 million payment from its share of the 1998 settlement of lawsuits filed by states against large tobacco companies. That left state revenues $49.3 million
short of the estimates for July and August combined.
But the legislative researchers said the payment eventually should arrive and didn't consider it part of any revenue shortfall.
At the end of July, state tax collections were running $18 million behind the estimates.
State officials had forecast $321.7 million in tax revenues in August. Instead, only $302.8 million were collected.
Officials debating state statue
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — A battle over placing a statue depicting a Kansa Indian atop the Statehouse isn't over, even though work on the monument is nearing completion.
State officials expect the 21-foot, 3-ton statue, called "Ad Astra," will be lowered by crane onto the tower atop the Statehouse dome in early October. Most of the project's $614,000 cost comes from putting additional steel beams inside the lantern to support the statue's weight.
A Topeka legislator has raised a new legal issue, questioning whether Gov. Bill Graves had the authority to veto a provision in a budget bill that would have barred state funding on the project. With the veto, the project went ahead.
Officials from the Department of Administration took reporters and photographers on a tour of the dome yesterday.
The state commissioned the statue by Salina sculptor Richard Bergen in 1988, but the cost of the
dome work and legislators' objections have prevented the project's completion. The statue would replace a 1,000-watt light bulb that has been in place for decades.
Critics now question whether the state should be spending the money on the dome work when it faces financial problems. Graves recently ordered $41 million in cuts in the state's $4.4 billion budget, but he is a strong supporter of the statue project.
"There's a lot of other items that should be cut before this," said State architect Thaine Hoffman. "But this one, everyone can see, so this is the one that gets the attention."
Last week, Rep. Lana Gordon, R-Topeka, asked Attorney General Carla Stovall for a legal opinion on whether Graves could veto the anti-statue provision in the budget bill.
The Kansas Constitution authorizes the governor to
veto individual "items of appropriation" in budget bills.
But Gordon cited attorney general opinions from 1976 and 1981 that suggested the governor cannot nullify a single provision that only limits how the state spends its money without vetoing the entire bill. Those opinions said a provision isn't an appropriation if it doesn't allocate a specific dollar amount.
Gordon said yesterday that her constituents have been complaining about the project for months.
"They just see it as government waste at its finest," she said.
Even if Stovall agrees Graves lacked the authority to veto the anti-statue provision, a court challenge might be necessary to stop the project, because attorney general opinions aren't binding.
Spokesman Ben Bauman said Graves was confident his veto was proper.
"If it's not technically an appropriations matter, it shouldn't have been in an appropriations bill," he said.
it's not for everyone,but that's [the point].
In Army ROTC you'll push yourself. Test your limits. And in the process, learn how to think on your feet and be a good leader. You could even get a scholarship. Register today for an Army ROTC class. Because you're not just like "everyone."
ARMY ROTC Unlike any other college course you can take.
University of Kansas Army ROTC Call (785) 864-1109/3311, or email: goldbar@ku.edu