In The News With Senator Jay Emler
April 19, 2010
Sen. Jay Emler delivered a pep talk Monday before the Senate budget committee began the bleak process of shaping a plan to raise taxes or cut spending sufficiently to erase a deficit in the neighborhood of half a billion dollars. "This is not a pleasant experience for any of us," said Emler, a Lindsborg Republican who chairs the Senate Ways and Means Committee. "We will come up with a package that balances." Emler said realistic remedies to the budget problem would include a state tax increase. He said $350 million in new revenue would be a reasonable target. Likely prospects are tobacco, alcohol and retail sales taxes.
Kansas Legislature: What's next?
April 17, 2010
Now that the Kansas Legislature has a clearer picture as to what they have to contend with when they return from the spring break on April 28, the question is ... what’s next? “I do not believe there are any more significant cuts that may be achieved.” said State Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg. “That means the balance of the ‘budget hole’ will have to come from revenue enhancements. I believe there will be a combination of enhancements, not just one.” Emler said that the only place to cut is education and he added that Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson has deemed that unacceptable.
Bad budget news: $510 million deficit
April 17, 2010
When the Kansas Legislature reconvenes on April 28, they will have a clearer budget picture to deal with than when they broke for their spring recess. On Friday, the much-anticipated Consensus Revenue Estimates projected that the state will face a combined $510 million budget shortfall for the 2010 and 2011 budget. Senate Ways and Means Chairman Jay Emler, a Lindsborg Republican, said that he still believes a “rainy day” fund will help with any future budget issues the state may face. “Hopefully, this situation will convince enough legislators to support the constitutional amendment and the public will vote to establish the fund in the state constitution,” Emler said. “That would mean the funds could only be used in the event of an emergency, such as we now are facing.”
A.G.: Fund predator evaluations
April 17, 2010
Kansas Attorney General Steve Six is asking legislators to restore funding to a program that evaluates sexually violent predators before they return to society after prison. Senate Ways and Means Chairman Jay Emler said such a request would be easy to fund in a normal budget year. But Kansas is facing significant budget problems, with a projected shortfall between revenue and expenditures of more than $400 million. "I suspect that we take a hard look at this to see if we can come up with some money. Even finding that much money is going to be tough," said Emler, a Lindsborg Republican. Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson and Emler have said that public safety funding should not be cut further if more spending reductions are needed.
Early childhood dollars targeted
April 12, 2010
The expansion years for early childhood education soon could crash into a wall. Proposed cuts to early childhood programs have come as lawmakers grapple with how best to eliminate a budget shortfall in Kansas exceeding $400 million. Both House and Senate proposals for closing the budget gap include cuts for early childhood education. Sen. Jay Emler, who chairs the Senate's budget committee, said the cuts weren't proposed lightly. "The earlier you catch the children the better off you are in terms of being able to educate them, catch whatever problems they may have, correct them early," said Emler, R-Lindsborg. "I think everybody on the committee supports restoring those cuts," he said while also noting the Legislature has to produce a balanced budget.
Dark clouds for 2012 budget, too
April 8, 2010
Most legislators agree that to balance the budget, they’ll have to come up with about $450 million, either in spending cuts, new revenues or a combination of the two. It won’t be easy. But it could be a cakewalk compared to putting together the budget for the following fiscal year – the one that starts July 1, 2011, “That’s when the (federal) stimulus money – the money that’s been helping us out in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 – goes away,” said State Budget Director Duane Goossen. “I don’t know how we’re going to replace all this (stimulus) money. I really don’t,” said Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “The issue is we used the stimulus money to cover operating expenses …,” Emler said. “The reason it went for operations was because some people were hoping beyond hope that the economy would turn around and the replacement money, through growth, would be sort of neutrally generated. Unfortunately, that’s not been the case.”
Public and majority of legislators ready for tax increases, governor says
March 31, 2010
After seeing preliminary numbers on state revenues for the month of March, state officials said they were guardedly optimistic that the state's economy is on the mend. But that doesn't mean tax increases won't be needed when legislators return to Topeka for the wrap-up session that begins April 28. "I wouldn't say anything is off the table," said Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. "But the most unlikely would be the property tax." Emler said his committee would return to work April 19 with the goal of having a budget crafted for consideration when the full Legislature comes back to town.
Parkinson, GOP Senate leaders sing same song on taxes
March 31, 2010
In separate press conferences today Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson, a Democrat, and key Republican leaders in the Senate all said tax hikes will have to be part of the solution to Kansas’ budget crisis. Senate Ways and Means Chair Jay Emler noted that Parkinson has ruled out new cuts to schools; Medicaid spending can’t be cut; road projects have already been slashed to nearly nothing, and Emler himself ruled out more cuts to corrections and law enforcement. “If we cut public safety any further we are endangering the people who are serving us in public safety,” he said. “Or we’re closing a prison and releasing the inmates… we don’t have any more room to cut without shutting down state government.”
Ways and Means Committee Agrees to Cuts in Social Services
March 12, 2010
The Senate Ways and Means Committee upheld proposed cuts in the budgets of the Kansas Health Policy Authority and the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services. Committee chair, Senator Jay Emler of Lindsborg said “This is the worst budget he’s ever worked.” For several weeks, Emler has been telling committee members that balancing the budget would require $100 million in state spending cuts and $300 million in additional revenues.
Budget bill cuts spending $92M
February 18, 2010
The House and Senate on Thursday agreed to cut $92 million in spending by the end of June in an attempt to balance the current fiscal year's budget, but few legislators believed their agreement would be the last word on cuts. The bill includes $5 million more for the judicial branch in hopes of avoiding closure of district courts. Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jay Emler said court officials believe the additional funds will prevent furloughs, "but that remains to be seen." Emler said if more spending reductions are necessary that they may be included in the 2011 budget, which is still several weeks from being completed.
January 29, 2010
The Senate and House budget committee chairmen Friday said state employees shouldn't anticipate a raise in the fiscal year starting in July. Sen. Jay Emler, a Lindsborg Republican and chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said the state's burgeoning deficit precluded the option of raising state worker wages. "It's highly unlikely there will be any pay increases," he told a gathering of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce. "We simply don't have the money to do that."
Kansas Cause: Emler Pushes for Creative Security Funding
January, 2010
Rural areas such as Kansas will need to find innovative ways to fund homeland security efforts as federal resources continue to shrink for less populated areas. That is the message that Kansas state Sen. Jay Emler is spreading, after earning his master's degree at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security in 2008. More information...
Analysis: Kansas Tax Hikes Likely
January 12, 2010
Despite their public criticism of Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson's proposed hikes in sales and tobacco taxes, Kansas legislators are likely to raise taxes to close the state's budget gap. The Republican-controlled Legislature began reviewing the Democratic governor's budget-balancing plan Tuesday, and many GOP legislators panned it. "Can we reach $400 million with just cuts?" said Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jay Emler, a Lindsborg Republican. "I don't see how."
How Will the State Legislature Balance the Budget?
January 10, 2010
Ask lawmakers to name the top five issues they'll be facing when they get back to Topeka, and there's broad agreement. "There aren't five -- for me, there's only one, and that's the budget," says Sen. Jay Emler, R-Lindsborg and chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. "There will be other things, but they're of little consequence compared to the budget."
Tax revenues fall, adding pressure on legislators
January 8, 2010
A nearly 4 percent shortfall in Kansas tax revenues during December will increase pressure on Kansas legislators to either raise taxes or trim government spending even further, chairmen of two key tax committees predict. “We are caught between a rock and a hard place,” said state Sen. Jay Emler, a Lindsborg Republican and chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. “My guess is that is going to be a tough session,” he said.