Kansas is facing a projected budget shortfall of $350 million through the fiscal year that ends June 2017 and a $1.1 billion shortfall through June 2019.

Lawmakers are busy crunching the numbers and trying to find solutions. Lonnie Clark, 65th District State Representative, said that someone needs to take the shovel before Kansas digs itself any deeper.

“It’s not a slashing with a machete, so to speak, when we hear these budgets, but we are looking for everything that we can get in the legislature to try and balance the budget because it’s a monumental,” said Clark. “It’s absolutely frightening when you read  through everything and look how far we are in the hole and what the Governor’s proposed fixes are for that budget, because somebody hasn’t taken the shovel away – we’re still digging, and that’s a real problem.”

Legislators are working to protect some State’s underfunded departments.

“Some of the other departments that we’ve robbed in the past, we’re trying to protect those -whether we get that job done or not will take place in the next two or three weeks as we go through and start to see those bills,” said Clark.

Proposals out of Topeka have ranged from slashing public education to the latest proposal which is to raise personal income taxes for individuals with incomes greater than $35,000 a year and married couples making more than $70,000 a year.

Clark said that balancing the budget is a weighty challenge that he and other legislators are up for.

“It’s something that everybody in the State government right now in session is looking at and cooperating and working together and trying to fix,” said Clark.