June 10, 2015
Update on state budget situation
With the current legislative session remaining in flux, many employees continue to have questions about their pay, contract status and other issues. Questions continue to be raised, and here are some of the most frequent.
With regard to payroll, the university has cash balances to meet payroll obligations for several months. Payroll for the current year is not affected by this situation and will occur as planned. The legislation signed by the governor declaring all employees "essential" provides the authority for the fiscal year 2016 payroll, which began on Sunday, June 7.
Both the House and Senate have passed a budget, but the expenses exceed the revenue by about $400 million. If the Legislature can't agree on a tax package, the governor has these options, as outlined by the budget director:
- Veto the budget and no budget will be in place July 1.
- Line item veto appropriations in the bill, with the exception of funding for K-12 schools and the judiciary.
- Sign the budget and issue the required 30-day notice for allotments.
An across-the-board allotment — reduction — of 6.2 percent to state general funds would cover the current gap.
On the question of contracts, the declaration of all employees as "essential" by the Legislature and approval by the governor allows us to continue working. The university has provided guidance to each of our units to distribute fiscal year 2016 contracts to employees with no merit increases and only targeted salary increases to faculty for promotions and awards.
We will continue to provide additional information and respond to questions until this issue is resolved. The most current information can be found at k-state.edu/furloughs or by calling 785-532-1565.