Crunch time has arrived in Topeka. There’s no more time for posturing or dodging the issues confronting the state. Kansas and its residents are facing a financial crisis, and how this challenge is addressed is likely, to a significant degree, to determine the near-term strength of the state as well as its longer-term future.

According to the state’s Consensus Estimating Group, the state faces a deficit of $255 million by June 30 if spending isn’t cut. State law requires a governor to present a balanced budget to lawmakers each January shortly after they gather in Topeka to begin their legislative session.

For months, both candidates for the governorship, Tim Shallenburger and Kathleen Sebelius, sidestepped the question of whether they would call for new or higher taxes to provide the money needed to balance the budget. Both said state government needed to be more efficient and that waste needed to be eliminated.

It is questionable whether merely cutting waste will bring about sufficient savings to arrive at a balanced budget. Unfortunately, cuts in state funding, some perhaps severe, probably will have to be imposed to arrive at a balanced budget :quot; unless sizable new taxes are imposed. (Both cuts and added taxes may be necessary.) The big question is where cuts will be proposed and how deep the cuts may be.

Officials at most state-aided or state-supported operations are prone to say they already are running at maximum efficiency with little, if any, waste. The fact is most state programs could operate more efficiently.

Education is the single most costly state program, and it is reasonable to believe Gov.-elect Sebelius, her advisers and state lawmakers will take a hard look at how to reduce spending for both K-12 and higher education. This is true even though K-12 and, to a lesser degree, higher education, once were thought to be somewhat immune to major cuts.

Maintaining the quality and health of education was the No. 1 topic of debate in the Kansas governor’s race. It was a case of “he said, she said” concerning whether, or to what degree, education could tolerate lower state aid. Winner Sebelius said she didn’t know what she would recommend until she completed a thorough review of all state agencies.

All this campaign rhetoric is water under the bridge. Now it is time for Sebelius to produce and measure up to the confidence state voters placed in her. It was somewhat disappointing to hear the governor-elect say Wednesday that she’d just as soon have Gov. Bill Graves deal with the deficit projected by the Consensus Estimating Group. Maybe this was another of her “Missouri roads” comments, but it was not reassuring for anyone looking for a visionary response. Some way, the governor, state lawmakers and the people of Kansas must come together to arrive at a plan that is good for the state, not what’s best for the governor and her political team or what might be best for the GOP-controlled Kansas Legislature or the Republican Party in its planning to try to recapture the Governor’s Office in four years.

It’s a time to do what is best for the entire state :quot; east, west, north and south :quot; not to play political games, claim credit or place blame.

Too much is at stake at this critical time. All parties :quot; rural and urban and in all fields of labor, commerce and industry :quot; must work together. Those interested in education :quot; K-12 and higher education :quot; need to work together. The question of duplication or overlap in education :quot; specific courses or in the number of institutions the state can afford :quot; needs to be studied.

The GOP-controlled Legislature needs to be cooperative with the Democratic governor, and the governor needs to work with lawmakers. All parties need to address the challenges with an open mind.

The governor and lawmakers need to figure out how best to generate more cash flow into the state treasury. What can be done on an immediate timetable and what can be done on a more long-term basis?

It’s fairly obvious no state operation is going to get everything it may want or think it deserves. It’s likely cuts will be made across the board.

With enlightened, unselfish and visionary leadership, this very critical time of serious challenges to the state and its people could provide the opportunity and impetus for Kansas to emerge a stronger, better state, ready and able to take advantage of the many opportunities that are sure to be on the horizon.

It all depends on how those in Topeka, as well as those throughout the state, approach the situation. Lawmakers must be genuinely interested in working together for the benefit of all Kansans rather than being driven by selfish, partisan motives.

Now is not the time to worry about who will get the credit for positive action. Rather, it is a time for a commitment to do what is in the best long-range interests of Kansas.

In fact, conducting business as usual in Topeka almost certainly would be harmful to the state. This is particularly true at this time because there is no room for games of one-upmanship.

If Kansas and its people want to be winners in the years to come, to have a forward-looking state offering a multitude of opportunities for its residents and institutions, now is the time to start working on that dream.