Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has directed state agencies to avoid filling open positions not essential to dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and to eliminate discretionary spending.
Her announcement Monday came as she and other officials brace for a more pessimistic fiscal forecast. State officials, legislative researchers and university economists were expected Monday evening to slash the state’s official projections for tax collections for the rest of the current 2020 budget year ending June 30 and for the 2021 budget year.
State finances had been in relatively good shape with tax collections running 3.2% ahead of expectations over the past nine months.