State employees should see paychecks Friday

By Brianne Pfannenstiel

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

As University students and faculty waited anxiously to hear whether they would be paid this week, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius announced at a press conference Tuesday she had signed the budget reduction bill passed by the Kansas House and Senate.

Republicans in the Legislature had previously refused to issue a certificate of indebtedness until Sebelius signed the budget bill. That certificate would allow the state to transfer internal funds into the account used to pay state employees, issue income tax refunds and make payments to health care providers and public schools. Without a certificate, state employees, including about 5,000 student employees of the University as well as about 5,000 faculty and staff members, would not be paid this Friday.

After signing the bill, Sebelius called a meeting of the State Finance Council for 2 p.m. today to ask legislators to issue $225 million in certificates of indebtedness to pay state employees and handle other obligations.

State Republican leaders said they would sign the certificates today and Sebelius has instructed budget director Duane Goossen to begin processing paychecks for state workers.

“With legislative cooperation at the meeting tomorrow, our obligations can be met in a timely fashion,” Sevelius said. “It’s important that we pay our bills.”

Check Kansan.com for updates on this story.

— — Edited by Chris Hickerson

Comments

pantheon (anonymous) says...

Would this "not getting paid" thing have included politicians? You know, the guys who can't rig up a decent budget?

It's not entirely their fault, though. Budgeting systems are screwy anyway, so if you don't use it all you get cuts, encouraging frivolous spending. But a lot of it is their fault.

February 18, 2009 at 9:37 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

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