With Brownback era behind us, Kansas needs to keep moving forward on infrastructure

Haven’t we had enough constitutional amendments?

I had to raise my eyebrows at the news that gubernatorial candidate Derek Schmidt proposed yet another amendment to the Kansas Constitution, this time to prevent legislators from stealing funds meant for the state highway fund to make up for budget shortfalls.

I fully appreciate a balanced budget and revenue stream, having worked my first four years as a state representative to reverse the terrible policies put in place during the Brownback administration, which included stopping the usage of the Kansas Highway Fund as a fiscal slush fund.

I remember Schmidt being one of the top leaders in the Senate who helped create that disastrous situation, so I’m struck by the irony.

Throughout Brownback’s administration, over $2.6 billion was stolen from the Kansas Highway Fund to fill budget holes caused by his failed “tax experiment.” That’s $2.6 billion meant to update our roads, bridges and highways; invest in critical infrastructure; and ensure Kansans from across the state could stay connected, wasted.

It wasn’t just the safety of our roads that were put at risk. It affected our economy and  workforce, too. The highway robbery of our highway fund led to a delay in $500 million in construction projects. Without these projects in the works, our state lost construction jobs, upending the lives of our workers and their families.

When someone defends that practice, as Schmidt is quoted, “If you read the letter of the law ... it doesn’t say there has to be a balanced budget,” I get nervous. Very nervous.

I give props to Gov. Kelly, not just because of the record-setting amount of economic investment that has come in under her administration, but also because she has brought on professionals based on merit to lead her agencies. She famously commands a detailed knowledge of the budget process and line items, and she recognizes that Kansans value fiscal responsibility, not constitutional mandates.

In my role on the Transportation Committee in the House and Senate, and working through the budgeting process of the past few years, I recognize that fiscal mismanagement is a thing of the past thanks to the leadership of Gov. Laura Kelly.

Kansas has started more than 1,000 infrastructure projects, and her administration ensured the start  of all the outstanding T-WORKS projects, which were abandoned by the Brownback administration due to lack of funding. Gov. Kelly has also brought our infrastructure into the  21st century by modernizing our roads and bridges, investing in high-speed internet access for  Kansans across the state, and closing Brownback’s “Bank of KDOT” once and for all.

In just four years, leveraging the work of a bipartisan group of legislators who recognized the need to change the course of Kansas, Gov. Kelly has made Kansas a safer place to travel, created more jobs and gave businesses a reason to move to our state. All the progress we’ve  made investing in our infrastructure these last few years is at risk at this important juncture.

When given the opportunity, Schmidt and his majority allies chose Sam Brownback and his extreme and unpopular tax policies over Kansas workers and families. I do not want the threat of changing course, potentially returning to extreme economic policies that tanked our economy and led to the decay of our infrastructure.

We must leave Brownback’s damaging policies in the rearview and continue making investments in our infrastructure with Gov. Kelly’s steady hand behind the wheel through November and into the next four years.

Jeff Pittman represents Kansas’ 5th District in the state Senate and serves on the Senate Transportation Committee.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas moving forward on infrastructure, leaving Brownback era behind