Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has vetoed a bill related to the development of a state budget.

Senate Bill 14 would allow the previous year’s state budget to continue if the Legislature fails to adopt a budget plan.  It would set up a continuous budget that would remain in place unless lawmakers take action.

In her veto message, the governor said every single Legislature has passed a budget since statehood in 1861.  She said, “If this Legislature cannot do what every previous legislature has been able to do since our founding—through periods of war, famine, pandemic, recession, the Dust Bowl, and even the Great Depression—then they will have to do it over my veto because I will not sanction it, nor will the people of Kansas.   This bill is the latest attempt at legislative overreach into the executive branch and is really nothing more than an invitation to government dysfunction—just like we see in Washington, D.C. Is that what we want for Kansas?”

Senate president Ty Masterson of Andover and House Speaker Dan Hawkins of Wichita issued a joint statement saying the bill would prevent state government shutdowns over budget disagreements.  They said, “Kansans are tired of watching the government shutdown drama at the federal level, where politicians use people’s livelihoods as leverage to get their way.”  They are promising to override the veto when lawmakers return to the Statehouse for the wrap-up session on April 10th and 11th.