The Kansas Legislature, as of Thursday evening, has not passed a 2016 budget. If the situation doesn’t change soon, many state employees will go on mandatory, unpaid furloughs at 11:59 p.m. Saturday.
So, if you plan to attend the soap making workshop on Sunday at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, call first to see if the place is even open.
If you want to get a driver’s license on Monday at the Barton County Courthouse, or search for a job at the Job Service center, you may not be able to. And, if the state issues your paycheck, you may not be earning any money next week.
According to a story in the Lawrence Journal World, there are about 35,000 people in the state workforce. Any employee who is considered “nonessential to core functions and limited continuity of operations” could be furloughed.
The state needs to make more than $400 million in budget cuts or raise taxes accordingly. What are the chances that anyone will be happy with the end result? The time for decision making is now.