The view of the north side of the Statehouse.

Topeka ? Kansans like government.

There are nearly 4,000 government units strewn across the state, directing everything from counties, cities, schools, townships, cemeteries and drainage systems.

But amid the current budget crisis, legislators are warming to the idea of consolidation as a way to save some money.

Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, says that you can look from the top of a bank building in downtown Topeka and see an area comprising five school districts. And some of those districts are building new schools while others are closing schools.

“Consolidation is not easy, but I think it has to be considered,” Morris said.

Legislators are peering into a $400 million budget shortfall after state spending has already been cut by nearly $1 billion. They are considering more budget cuts and possibly increasing taxes.

Eliminating layers of government may seem like a natural in the current environment.

A 2003 state audit found that Kansas had more local government units than all but the much more populous states of California, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania. In 2002, those Kansas local governments levied $2.6 billion in property taxes, the audit said. And auditors have long claimed there are numerous opportunities to merge functions and services across governmental lines to avoid costly duplication.

“We have too many school districts, too many levels of government. The question is whether we have the political will to resolve that,” said House Appropriations Chairman Kevin Yoder, R-Overland Park.

House Speaker Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, said he hears constituents say they want more money for schools and also less administrative overlap. But, he said, when it comes to consolidation, “the devil is in the details.”

The legislators’ comments came last week during a forum before the Kansas Chamber.

Ironically, the man they want to see become the next governor — Republican Sam Brownback — appeared cool to the consolidation idea.

After the legislative forum, Brownback, a U.S. senator, was asked what he thought about consolidation. He replied, “I’m not for forcing it.” But he added that he wasn’t going to second-guess state officials grappling with the current budget crisis. “You have one governor at a time. I’m not it,” he said, adding that legislators have “a difficult task ahead of them.”

Consolidating school districts is a political powderkeg and while some legislators often talk about the need to eliminate some districts, it has been left up to individual districts to take the initiative.

One of those who has proposed shrinking government is state Sen. Chris Steineger, D-Kansas City. He has had bills to reduce the number of counties in Kansas from 105 to 13, and the size of the Legislature from 40 members in the Senate to 30, and from 125 members in the House to 90. Those proposals haven’t gotten any traction, but Steineger said, “At some point, we as a Legislature need to start looking at ideas like this.”