Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's "experiment" in supply-side economics has been a disaster for his state's finances -- and his latest proposal to keep the government funded is getting panned by lawmakers in both parties.
The Wichita Eagle reports that Brownback wants to use money from the state's long-term investments to cover a budget shortfall that's projected to be a whopping $930 million over the next 18 months.
The goal of tapping into the investment fund, says Kansas Republican Senate Majority Leader Jim Dennin, is to "to get out of the crisis" the government is now facing "without having to do deep, deep cuts to K-12" education.
However, at least one member of Brownback's own party is not ready to sign off on such a plan -- and has even compared it to shady financial engineering.
"It looks to me like we’re taking a payday loan," said Republican Sen. Carolyn McGinn. "We’re borrowing against ourselves again internally, and I think it’s just going to put us further away from where we need to get to."
Democratic leader Anthony Hensley, meanwhile, said that tapping the fund was yet "another gimmick" that would do anything to fix the state's long-term budget outlook.