State Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, speaks Saturday during an “Eggs and Issues” session of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce at the Eldridge Hotel. Sloan and other lawmakers discussed the 2009 legislative session and the wrap-up session that starts April 29.

Douglas County legislators said Saturday that the just-adjourned main part of the 2009 legislative session was bad, and the wrap-up session, which starts later this month, will be worse.

Fights over budget cuts and the proposed coal-burning power plants will continue to dominate the agenda, they said during a Lawrence Chamber of Commerce “Eggs and Issues” meeting at the Eldridge Hotel.

“This is as tough a year as we’ve had in the Legislature,” said House minority leader Paul Davis, D-Lawrence.

More budget cuts?

The economic recession caused lawmakers and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to cut funding to numerous programs, including public schools and higher education. Without federal stimulus funding, the reductions would have been much worse.

But with state tax receipts continuing to under-perform, legislators said that a new revenue estimate April 17 will force further budget adjustments when the wrap-up session starts April 29.

State Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, said Democrats, who are in the minority in the Legislature, don’t want to make any more cuts, but instead want to consider “decoupling” state tax policy from recent federal tax breaks, which some have estimated could produce up to

$66 million in revenue. In addition, she said, Republican legislative leaders have left on the table approximately millions of dollars in federal stimulus funds that could be used for unemployment compensation.

“We’ve made a reasonable number of cuts, and we have to start looking at other things,” Francisco said.

But state Rep. Anthony Brown, R-Eudora, predicted more budget cuts are coming.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news. We have to be Draconian at times,” he said. Brown said state government spending has gotten too big and people rely too much on the government for solutions to their problems.

Coal-burning plants

For the fourth time, state lawmakers adopted legislation requiring the state to allow construction of two 700-megawatt coal-fired power plants in southwestern Kansas.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has vetoed previous attempts, citing the project’s annual emission of 11 million tons of carbon dioxide, the fact that 85 percent of the power is for out-of-state customers, and that Kansas should focus on renewable energy because of the state’s wind potential and the possibility of future federal restrictions on CO2.

She is almost certain to veto the latest bill, which prompted the question of whether the House could muster the required two-thirds majority, or 84 votes, to override the veto. The House has fallen several votes short in previous attempts.

State Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, who voted against the last bill, said he didn’t know. Sloan added that state Rep. Carl Holmes, R-Liberal, chairman of the House Energy and Utilities Committee and a major sponsor of the coal-fired plants bill, told him that if the veto is not overridden, Holmes will not allow any renewable energy initiatives to be considered in that committee.

“And he is serious about that,” Sloan said. Attempts to contact Holmes were not successful.

Davis said it would be a shame if the impasse over the power plants legislation blocked work on renewable energy efforts because other states were working hard to attract “green collar” jobs. “We’re going to walk out of here with nothing,” Davis predicted.

About 35 people attended the discussion. Other legislators present were state Reps. Ann Mah, D-Topeka, and Tony Brown, D-Baldwin City. State Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, had a previous engagement, but she wrote a letter to the group that was read by Davis. In it, Ballard said that because of the state’s budget problems, “this could be a long wrap-up session.”