Public K-12 schools escaped the latest round of state budget cuts, but other state entities are paying a high price.

Gov. Bill Graves apparently is trying to make good on the campaign promise made by both candidates who sought to succeed him.

Surprisingly, the budget cuts announced by Graves on Tuesday included no cuts in education spending. Graves made $78 million in immediate spending cuts to the state budget and identified other budget savings to deal with most of the state’s projected $310 million shortfall. Although school districts across the state were braced for bad news, Graves didn’t cut additional funding for public schools, which account for about half of the state’s budget. Both Democrat Kathleen Sebelius and Republican Tim Shallenburger had pledged during the campaign to preserve education funding.

Other entities were not as lucky. The governor cut $33.7 million from state social services and $27.3 million from higher education budgets as well as eliminating a $48 million transfer to local governments. And he left for the Kansas Legislature to decide whether to cut more from social services and perhaps opt not to repay $94.6 million that was borrowed from the state’s transportation funds.

Tuesday’s cuts were expected to be the last time Graves addresses the budget. The ball now is in the next governor’s court.

Graves did his duty by making essential cuts to keep the state solvent. Whether or not the current year’s budget shortfalls are Graves’ fault, they occurred on his watch, and it is appropriate that he should deal with the situation by mitigating the damage.

Gov.-elect Sebelius was willing to let Graves make the decisions he announced Tuesday and probably hoped he would make some cuts in education to spare her that task, but there certainly will be more difficult decisions ahead. Her leadership and relationship with the Legislature will help set the direction for additional cuts or new revenue to deal with the budget crunch.

The first and most important act of the Sebelius administration will be to submit a revised budget for fiscal year 2003 and a proposed budget for fiscal 2004. The 2003 budget will include Graves’ cuts and perhaps additional cuts based on projected revenue. In January, Sebelius must present a budget for fiscal 2004 that is based on current revenue projections, which officials say may fall $800 million below projected spending.

The will of the Kansas Legislature and the Kansas people to hold the line on taxes will be tested. If the governor and the Legislature are determined to “hold harmless” funding to public schools, the budget knife will have to cut deep into other areas. Tuesday’s cuts to higher education, social services and transfers to local governments will be only the tip of the iceberg.

Can the state live with the level of services it can provide without collecting any new revenue? Is that the kind of state in which Kansans want to live?

The difficult budget decisions ahead will test the will of the Kansas people and the leadership of our new governor. Hopefully both will be equal to the task.