Kansas

Kansas is still looking for the winning formula, four years after Gov. Sam Brownback started his experiment with income and business tax cuts. The 2016 fiscal year ended June 30 with the state borrowing $900 million, raising $38 million to avoid closing public schools and again falling short of revenue estimates.

Faced with a state Supreme Court threat to block distribution of funds to Kansas public schools, Gov. Sam Brownback called a special session of the legislature to provide a funding solution.

With revenues continuing to fall below forecast, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback reduced spending by $100 million, with cuts to universities, transportation, and Medicaid, among other services.

The outlook on Kansas’ Aa2 rating from Moody’s Investors Service fell to negative Tuesday, as state lawmakers approved a budget that allows Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback to make further cuts in spending.

Five days after Kansas lowered its revenue estimates for the current and coming fiscal year, Standard & Poor's placed the state's AA rating on its watch list for a possible downgrade.

A revised revenue estimate that is $229 million below previous forecasts will delay highway projects and force other state spending cuts, Kansas officials said.

After months of seeing revenues fall well below projections, Kansas came within $1.7 million of its target for March, officials reported.

With a deadline bearing on them, Kansas legislators approved a court-mandated revision of the school funding formula designed to keep schools open in the next fiscal year beginning July 1.

With four months remaining in the fiscal year, Kansas revenue is running nearly $80 million short of projections after the latest monthly report.

Municipal bond primary market volume in the Southwest surpassed the previous record set in 2008, climbing 20% to $77.7 billion.

Kansas lawmakers sent a $16.1 billion budget for the next fiscal year to Gov. Sam Brownback that includes new limits on bonds for tourist-related developments and out-of-state conduit issuers for universities.

With Kansas lawmakers already working to close a $200 million budget gap, the state now must now address a court order to fix the school funding formula by June 30.

As Kansas revenues fell $6.8 million below projections for January, lawmakers began looking for ways to close the expanding budget gap.

A $327 million University of Kansas bond sale that used a Wisconsin conduit issuer drew criticism from lawmakers seeking to ban future out-of-state deals.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback plans to cut $25 million in highway spending and enact other cuts as revenue continues to fall.

Kansas revenues fell $27 million below expectations for December, returning to a pattern of shortfalls after a one-month reprieve in November.

The University of Kansas will use the Wisconsin-headquartered Public Finance Authority as conduit for a $350 million lease-revenue bond deal instead of the Kansas Development Finance Authority.

After four months of falling below expectations, Kansas revenues exceeded estimates for November, according to the state Department of Revenue.

In one of its largest deals in recent years, the Kansas Department of Transportation will issue $400 million of revenue bonds for its “T-Works” highway program.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback ordered $123 million in spending cuts, transfers and other measures as state revenue estimates continued to fall in November.