Brownback Administration confuses... Again

You can lead a Governor to common sense, but you can’t make him partake. 

I've tried. (They kind of listened.) But seriously, before issuing that next press release, phone a friend. 

 Sigh.

I don’t mean to pile on Gov. Sam Brownback. He takes enough heat without little ol’ Gidget adding to it. And yet, it’s so hard to watch the bumbling and just stay quiet.

I want to help. Really, I do.

So, last week, in a typical end-of-the-month bungling, the revenue department announced that revenues again fell short of expectations. This is becoming a monthly event. The press office issues an excuse. The media wails. School children starve. The Whining Whiners Who Whine™ whine. Morons post stupid things on Facebook. Rinse. Cycle. Repeat.

This month, sales tax receipts grew by 3.9 percent, but were $3.2 million short of expectations.

First, it’s as if no one in the Brownback Administration – budget office – has ever worked in the service industry. Anyone who has ever worked as hostess in a restaurant can tell you: Under promise and over deliver. Who is making these terrible, inaccurate budget predictions and why? Are we really stunned every single month?

This time, the excuse is that the state paid out $22.3 million in unanticipated refunds in August. Why weren’t they anticipated? Truly, this is confusing to me.

My suspicion is that when it’s time to draft a budget, legislators are terrified of being reasonable. By that, I mean, they feel obligated to budget more money than they take in. I don’t get it.

It’s also worth noting that despite the claims that Kansas is just completely broke – we are still taking in more money month over month than we did last year. Revenues just aren’t meeting expectations.

Basically, we over budgeted.   

And by we, I mean the legislature over budgeted. I’m not going to talk down to my brilliant audience by indicating that the legislature did this without Brownback’s permission. Still, why didn’t the Brownback Administration focus on the fact that month-over-month revenues are higher this year than last year. Why do they always lead with… welp, we’re short. 

D’oh.

Are they actively seeking throat punches from Kansas City Star editorial writers?