The next governor of Kansas may be demanding a recount after viewing the state’s latest revenue estimates.

It’s a classic case of good news, bad news.

The good news for the next governor of Kansas is a victory in Tuesday’s election. The bad news is the crushing state revenue estimates also released on Tuesday.

In a cruel bit of irony, the state’s Consensus Estimating Group met on the same day voters were going to the polls to elect, among others, the governor and Kansas House members who will have to deal with the state’s current financial crisis. Twice a year, the estimators, a group of economists, legislative researchers and government officials meet to look at the Kansas economy and predict future tax collections.

The revenue estimate the group arrives at is used to formulate  or adjust  the state budget. Adjustments already have been necessary in the current fiscal year, but the $41 million trimmed from the budget by Gov. Bill Graves is just the beginning. According to Tuesday’s estimates, the expected revenue will require the state to cut another $255 million in spending just to break even at the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

Kansas is not alone in this situation. Other states also are facing serious fiscal challenges. How states respond to these problems will be critically important to their future status. Those that are able to tighten their belts without undercutting basic services will be in a far better position to move forward when the nation’s economy turns around. Some states will emerge from the current poor economic climate prepared to move ahead and be national leaders while others will remain stalled and drifting backward. Kansas should be a leader, an example for the rest of the nation.

To that end, Gov. Graves must act aggressively in the last two months of his term to deal with the state’s fiscal crunch. He has said he expects to meet with his successor today to discuss the situation, but action shouldn’t be delayed. There are tough choices to be made, and although Graves should work in concert with the next governor, he shouldn’t shirk his responsibility to take whatever action is needed to shore up the state’s finances.

The new governor will have a few weeks to figure out how to either make good on or sidestep campaign pledges about not raising taxes. By law, the governor has to submit a budget based on the revenue estimates of the consensus group. Perhaps the state will be able to hold its own without a tax increase, but it certainly won’t be easy.

The first order of business, of course, is to get the state through this fiscal year. The next eight months will be critical. The actions taken by Graves before he leaves office in January may be among the most important decisions of his eight-year tenure. He already has his next job lined up, but Graves’ duties as the governor of Kansas aren’t finished yet.