Regardless of whether they have supported continued expenditures for the renovation of the state Capitol building, Kansas legislators moving into new offices, filled with new furnishings next month owe it to Kansas taxpayers to at least feel a little guilty.

We heard all of the arguments in favor of continuing the $285 million construction project. The work was desperately needed, we were told, and the statehouse would be a true showplace when the project was finished. Many artisans had been assembled for restoration work, and it would cost far more to suspend the project and restart it late.

All of those justifications probably are valid, but there simply is something unseemly about legislators moving into a new wing of offices, filled with new, high quality furnishings while many public school districts across the state are trying to figure out how to make their December payrolls. It just isn’t right.

The cost of the statehouse project continued to go up as new amenities such as an underground parking garage were added to the plans. At every turn, it seemed, something was discovered that required additional work and additional funds. It’s a beautiful project, but its extravagance seems inappropriate when the state is being forced to deeply cut funding for basic services such as Medicaid, public schools and higher education.

The state was committed to this project before the bottom dropped out of the U.S. economy last year, but surely there were ways to reduce or at least delay some of the costs. For instance, even if it was wise to continue the construction project, legislators and their staffs might have been able to get by with their existing office furniture until state revenues rebounded.

As it is, legislators should be a little embarrassed to invite struggling constituents into their newly decorated digs. How can they explain that, while basic state services are being cut to the bone, the spending continues on a project to turn the state Capitol into a showplace?

Many of the same state legislators who were willing to approve money for the renovation project are unwilling to look at canceling any tax exemptions or taking other steps to boost state revenues and relieve some of the budget pressures. They expect state agencies and the education system to cut their budgets even deeper while the state continues to write the checks for statehouse construction and furniture.

Anyway it’s justified, it doesn’t look good. At this point, there may be nothing to do except to finish the project and move on, but any pride state lawmakers have in the renovated statehouse should be tempered by the reality of how some of that money might have been better spent.