Dave Trabert, Kansas Policy Institute | 3-10-26

0:00Every day, excessive delays and denials from big insurers keep patients from accessing the care they need. And when care is urgent, these delays can be disastrous. These practices cost billions in wasteful spending, driving up costs for American families. But while big insurers put up barriers, America's hospitals and health systems are in your corner, navigating endless reviews and appeals to get you the care you need when you need it most. It's time to curb these harmful practices and put the focus back on patients. Brought to you by the Coalition to Strength in America's Health Care. All right, it's always a great time when Dave Prawbert joins us with the Kansas Policy Institute on 95-7 FM. And Dave, I want to start with a story that I talked about early this morning. And that's the money problems in Kansas. The projected tax revenues were not close to the actual numbers. Kansas took in $58 million less in tax revenue than unexpected last month. How concerning is that? What does it mean for the state's financial situation?

1:00Well, good morning, Pete. It's always good to be here. It's obviously not good news. And unfortunately, it just makes a very challenging situation worse. Because for the last several years and projected into the near future, the state is spending a few hundred million dollars more than it's projected to take in. And that's not because revenues are down. It's because spending has gone through the roof. Okay, so what about that big rainy day fund that the state got courtesy of COVID? It really, that's the, I mean, when Laura Kelly talks about the rainy day fund, it's just the dump load of money that they got from COVID that every state got, right? So what do they do? Should they start utilizing some of that or where, because they do have to spend it over the next couple of years, I believe? No, this is not COVID money. COVID money didn't go into the general fund. I know people talk about it that way. And maybe they just aren't familiar with how the federal funds flow.

2:04That goes through a different budget. What's the general fund budget where the revenues came in short, does not get COVID money? So they can they use that money? Can they use that money to close the gap or no? Oh, yes, so you can use that money to close the gap. Yeah. And so that would buy you some time, but that eventually runs out as well. I mean, that could buy you three, four years, but you're still going to be facing a problem unless you start spending. I mean, the state general fund budget now is over $10 billion. I keep asking legislators, what are we getting today for $10 billion that we didn't get when we spent $6.5 billion? There's no new services. They're just more expensive services or we're funding other things that really aren't core government services. Well, they'll say, hey, you know, costs have gone up, inflation's gone up, and that's impacted everybody.

3:06But obviously that does not explain the massive increase in spending in the state of Kansas on the government level. And I don't know if you saw this day, but there's a chart that's going around that shows Kansas is top five in the nation in net migration loss in 2025. It's kind of been popping up on social media. We've talked about this general trend in Kansas. And obviously we don't feel it here in Johnson County, but it's not a good situation right now in Kansas. And what are our lawmakers doing about it outside of, you know, getting the chiefs to flip from one side of the state line to the other? Well, that won't do anything about migration. The Kansas has been losing population from domestic migration, which is just US residents choosing to move in and out of different states. That's been that way for many years. And so the reasons are, there's multiple reasons.

4:06High taxes is near the top of the list, if not at the top of the list. And so they did reduce income taxes, but not nearly enough to make a competitive difference. We still have exorbitant property taxes, and we're hoping to get some relief on that. But if we need to get the spending expending drives everything, the only thing that determines how much a government taxes is what it chooses to spend on services. And so you need to, you need to provide services, but you have to do it at an efficient price so you don't tax anymore. And that's the secret to the states that don't have an income tax. They provide all the same services. They just do it much more affordably. Dave Roberts here on KCMO, Kansas Policy Institute. So I know you got a couple of new pieces up at the Sentinel. As we now enter March in the state legislature, what should we be keeping an eye on when it comes to property tax policy and what might be happening there in Tobica?

5:10Well, there is the good news is the House and Senate leadership are working together to try to get two bills across the line. The House is focused on a mill rate limit, and the Senate is working the assessment limit. So that the Senate bill that's passed would only allow your assess value to increase by 3% could go less, but no more than 3% a year. That's under consideration in the House now, and the Senate is working on the House bill. Unfortunately, there are bipartisan efforts. There's Democrat and Republicans working sometimes behind the scenes, sometimes right out in front trying to kill. And they know that if you kill one, you probably kill both. And that is, that is the number one challenge facing taxpayers in the legislature this year. Why would Republicans want to kill that? Well, there's a variety of things. Some of them have an allegiance to local government.

6:11I mean, we've got a growing number of former and current local elected officials in the legislature. For the first time ever, we have a local government caucus in the legislature. There's not a taxpayer caucus, but there's a local government caucus. Well, they're all supposed to be part of the tax. They're all supposed to be part of a taxpayer caucus, but that's not the case anymore. So that's unbelievable. No, and you know, here's the thing. This is a, you know, we've done, I've talked about this before. We have public polling that shows that 80% of Kansas want an assessment limit, even two-thirds of Democrat. I mean, this is a no-brainer. They want to, and this bill only allows the people to vote on it, and they're trying to stop the public from being able to vote on an assessment limit. It is not, you know, it just boggles the mind. The excuses, I mean, there's some legitimate questions, of course, but there's explanations for every question.

7:13Like, for example, there's people who say the realtors and the home builders are saying, well, this, this will discourage home building, and not that they've produced any evidence that states that have assessment limits had that happen. We went out and looked, and we actually found the art, and we just looked at Arkansas and Oklahoma. They've had assessment limits for over a decade, more than two in one case. And in both cases, home permit and new home construction went up following the implementation of an assessment limit. And they're still building more homes per capita than Kansas. That's amazing. So it's, it, it, it, it, it is. It's like we're not looking at facts here. We're not making rational decisions. There's emotional decisions, and it starts with, I don't like that idea for whatever reason, and they dig in. Dave Trauber, Kansas Policy Institute, always great stuff out of you, Dave. We appreciate you being here on the show.

8:14Thanks, Pete. Good to be here. Absolutely Dave Trauber with the Kansas Policy Institute on KCMO Talk Radio 957 FM. When you really need care, you need 24 seven access to a care team, not a maze of paperwork from a third party. Every day, America's hospitals and health systems show up for you, navigating healthcare can feel overwhelming, but you can count on real doctors, real nurses, real people, providing quality around the clock care when you need it most. They're in your corner, in communities across America, your neighbors, your lifelines, right beside you holding your hand and helping find answers. That's what putting patients first actually means. Learn more at strengthinhealthcare.org. Brought to you by the Coalition to Strength in America's Health Care. The NFL Draft presented by Bud Light is coming to Pittsburgh, and it's your chance to witness the future of the game for free. From April 23 to April 25, feel the energy of the NFL Draft. See the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Super Bowl rings. Meet NFL players and legends. Enjoy interactive games and live music performances, and be there as the future of the NFL takes center stage.

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