Kansas legislators should be embarrassed.
I don’t drive to Topeka often, but every time I ask myself — when are they ever going to complete the Kansas Statehouse renovation?
The answer is 2014 — maybe.
Simply put, the Kansas Statehouse renovation is a $332 million cost-overrun disaster which epitomizes what is wrong with politics and politicians.
The Taj Mahal never got this much attention.
Most politics starts with a good idea.
The hard question is always — “How will we pay for it?”
In the case of the Kansas Statehouse renovation, the answer has been tens of millions in yearly bond financing, $40 million from Build America federal stimulus funds and $7 million Kansas Department of Transportation financing after an original price tag of $135 million.
The $332  million Capitol renovation project is being carried out by J.E. Dunn Construction.
The KDOT money will replant grass, pave a new driveway and pave a road. Seems like $7 million doesn’t get very far these days.
Every year, tens of millions has been added to the colossal waste of taxpayer money.
At one point, Statehouse architect Barry Greis said the price tag now will be “$285 million plus,” adding, “I just don’t know what the plus is.”
Democrat state Senator Chris Steineger of Kansas City “said “the underlying problem is that the Capitol renovation project is out of control.”
The State Finance Council approved a $17.4 million financing package in 2012 that included $5.4 million for the basement-level visitor center.
Greis said that the state never approved money to finish off the entryway, which is sheet-rock walls surrounded by a line of red tape. The latest funding will pay for a lobby, elevators, security, audio and visual rooms and a dining area.
The $135 million Statehouse renovation began in 2001. It was originally scheduled to be finished in October 2010 and has delayed for four years.
Here is the original plan. It’s amazing to think there is nearly $200 million in additional spending.
• Phase I, $55 million — underground parking garage for 550 vehicles, office vaults, mechanical systems, north wing elevator, visitors’ center shell; 2004 completion.
• Phase II, $20 million — east wing interior renovation, east wing mechanical, wing’s roof, exterior renovation; 2005 completion.
• Phase III, $22 million — west wing interior renovation, west wing mechanical, wing’s exterior stone, roof renovation, bathrooms; 2006 completion.
• Phase IV, $38 million — north, south interior renovation, rotunda, mechanical, exterior stone, roof renovation, visitors’ center; 2010 completion.
The original thought was to renovate the Statehouse.
Lawmakers added a $15 million underground parking garage, new office space and an $11 million visitor center.
It developed into a wasteful game of out-of-control spending.
We can all blame the Republican majority, two Democratic governors and two Republican governors for providing no leadership or fiscal common sense.