There’s no way to cut state spending by $279 million over the next six months without making some waves.

On Tuesday, Gov. Sam Brownback announced his plans to address this year’s revenue shortfall. All of the cuts will be painful; some are particularly controversial — even among members of his own party.

Although Brownback claims he didn’t know before November’s election that the state would experience revenue shortfalls this year, that reality has hit both the governor and the state full force. The cuts announced Tuesday are “first steps,” he said, “a down payment in resolving the immediate budget issue.”

These “first steps” are likely to pale by comparison with what will be needed to address revenue shortfalls in the next fiscal year if state officials refuse to consider tax changes to increase state revenue. The Legislative Research Department initially estimated a shortfall of about $436 million next year, but now says that figure will be closer to $600 million because reductions taken in the first round of cuts can be made only once.

The cuts announced Tuesday include 4 percent budget cuts to numerous state agencies. Of even greater concern, however, may be the governor’s plan to take another $100 million from state highway funds and reduce the state’s payment to the struggling KPERS pension plan by $40.7 million.

The state has borrowed from the Kansas Department of Transportation so many times that many lawmakers jokingly refer to the department as “the bank of KDOT.” Brownback officials insist that current highway projects won’t be affected by the $100 million withdrawal, but the state simply can’t continue to siphon money away from KDOT without hampering the department’s long-term mission. Now that KDOT has more control over the Kansas Turnpike Authority, questions also may be raised about how the withdrawals may affect what had been the historically financially solid toll road.

The plan to shortchange the KPERS system drew immediate negative reaction from some Republican officials who normally support Brownback. State Treasurer Ron Estes, a Republican, noted in a press release that KPERS assets already are $7.35 billion short of the amount needed to cover commitments to current state and K-12 school employees and retirees. Sen. Jeff King, R-Independence, blasted the governor’s decision, saying that the state had worked hard to shore up the state retirement system “and by raiding the KPERS fund today, Gov. Brownback’s threatening to undo all the hard-fought work we’ve done…”

And this is only the beginning. All of these moves are simply short-term fixes, not a long-term solution to the state’s current revenue-spending imbalance. The first round of cuts didn’t hit K-12 school districts, but on Wednesday, the governor already was indicating that his office is looking at ways to change how aid is distributed to those schools — presumably as a way to reduce state costs.

Everything is on the table, Brownback has said. It will be interesting to see what’s left in the state budget by the time the next legislative session ends. All the more reason for the governor to acknowledge some misjudgments and modify his tax plans. That would be a meaningful “first step.”