Kansas’ Internal Borrowing for Budget Declines

Kansas expects to rely less heavily on internal borrowing to pay its bills on time during the fiscal year starting in July.

Gov. Sam Brownback and legislative leaders on Tuesday unanimously approved $300 million in loans to the state’s general fund from other accounts. By law, the loan must be paid by the end of June 2014.

The general fund is the state’s main bank account. It is used to finance general government programs and provide aid to public school districts.

Because revenues don’t flow in consistently, the state has resorted annually to internal borrowing to temporarily meet its cash needs.

But the state shifted $400 million into the general fund during the current budget year and $600 million during the previous fiscal year.