<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1595447686752.png" alt="Gov. Laura Kelly prepares for a podcast recording at Kansas Reflector's office. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Gov. Laura Kelly prepares for a podcast recording at Kansas Reflector's office. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/07/21/gov-laura-kelly-shields-core-government-services-as-covid-19-rocks-kansas-economy/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Democratic Gov. 
Laura Kelly said the Kansas economy’s emergence from COVID-19 depends on
 sober responses to the public health nightmare, record unemployment and
 inevitable declines in tax revenue.She said the answer wasn’t
 to recklessly throw open doors to business activity nor starve core 
state government services, such as education or transportation. That was
 the strategy of GOP Gov. Sam Brownback after implementing massive 
income tax cuts in 2012 that failed to deliver promised job expansion 
but was blamed for years of revenue shortfalls, budget problems and 
lackluster economic growth.“I’m trying to avoid that 
as much as possible because this will end, you know, and I want us to be
 positioned as best as possible,” Kelly said on the Kansas Reflector 
podcast. “There’s no doubt that deep cuts to our economic drivers would 
not only stall us out but send us backwards.”<div><iframe width="100%" height="300" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" allow="autoplay" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/859117765&color=%232b7fb4&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true"></iframe><div style="font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;"><a href="https://soundcloud.com/kansas-reflector-podcast" title="Reflector Podcast" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Reflector Podcast</a> · <a href="https://soundcloud.com/kansas-reflector-podcast/kansas-gov-laura-kelly-commerce-secretary-david-tolland-plan-recovery-from-covid-19" title="Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, commerce secretary David Tolland plan recovery from COVID-19" target="_blank" style="color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;">Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, commerce secretary David Tolland plan recovery from COVID-19</a></div></div>In her initial round of 
budget adjustments necessitated by an estimated two-year, $1.2 billion 
pandemic-inspired budget crater, the governor said her intent was to 
shield education, transportation and health sectors of state government.
 She said the situation reinforced her belief that it was wise to veto 
two tax-cut bills in 2019, because holding that cash in reserve helped 
cover about $600 million of the problem. The governor recommended the 
state rely on delayed payment on debts, use of federal COVID funding and
 a series of one-time cuts to balance the current fiscal year’s budget.The governor also 
appointed a task force to guide distribution to cities, counties and 
businesses of more than $1 billion in federal aid tied to the pandemic. 
The idea is to cover local government expenditures on COVID-19 and 
transition to public-private partnerships designed to address ongoing 
health challenges.New eco-devo plan 
David Toland, secretary of the Kansas Department of Commerce, joined 
Kelly on the podcast and said the state’s economic challenges ought not 
be underestimated. There’s no question, he said, there’s a lot of Kansas
 families who are suffering and that certain business sectors have been 
hit hard by the pandemic.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1595447806480.jpeg" alt="Kansas Secretary of Commerce David Toland says during the Kansas Reflector podcast the state’s economy is hurting from the COVID-19 pandemic and must invest in job growth in advanced manufacturing, animal health, logistics and distribution, and broadband services to bolster the economy. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Kansas Secretary of Commerce David Toland says during the Kansas Reflector podcast the state’s economy is hurting from the COVID-19 pandemic and must invest in job growth in advanced manufacturing, animal health, logistics and distribution, and broadband services to bolster the economy. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>“The first thing we have 
to do is be clear-eyed about the economic realities that we’re facing 
right now,” Toland said. “One of those is that some of the jobs that 
have disappeared are gone forever.”He said the commerce 
department was nearly finished with crafting the state’s first 
comprehensive economic development plan in more than 30 years. The 
Framework for Growth will make the case Kansas must focus on developing 
personnel talent, expansion of broadband services and opportunities to 
invest in businesses engaged in advanced manufacturing, animal health, 
and logistics and distribution.The economic plan has been
 modified due to the pandemic, Toland said. The virus’ impact on 
business illustrated the value of having flexible manufacturers, 
especially in the health sector, capable of pivoting to emerging demand 
for goods required by COVID-19. The state also should plow deeper into 
potential growth of e-commerce throughout the state, he said. It’s 
important to take advantage of Kansas’ central location and highway 
network to bolster logistics and distribution operations, he said.The COVID-19 scourge has 
so far infected 22,000 and killed 300 in Kansas, based on reports from 
the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Testing has revealed 
COVID-19 cases in 102 of the state’s 105 counties, but three-fourths are
 concentrated in a dozen counties.Kelly said the Kansas 
Department of Labor’s antiquated computer network failed to handle the 
rapid surge of more than 200,000 new filers for unemployment and led to 
significant delays in processing claims.Labor Secretary Delia 
Garcia resigned in June after millions of dollars in duplicate payments 
were mistakenly sent to jobless Kansans. The consulting firm Accenture 
was hired by the governor to help the labor department improve training 
of call-center employees and speed response times. An automated element 
added to the mix featured the robotic “Amelia” answering frequently 
asked questions about unemployment benefits.“We’re working very, very 
hard on that,” the governor said. “I do want to say that with … all the 
problems that we’ve had, we still have been taking care of over 200,000 
Kansans and pushed out over $1.2 billion in unemployment benefits 
throughout the state. It’s been wild and crazy.”Other ideasHouse Speaker Ron Ryckman,
 an Olathe Republican, said the governor ought to reconsider her veto of
 legislation that would have earmarked $60 million in idle state funds 
for loans to small businesses and of a scholarship program designed to 
help Kansans enroll in technical skill college programs with workplace 
demand.He said careful 
implementation of the state’s new highway construction program should be
 a key force in economic development for years.The Kansas House formed a 
special committee to complete by January a set of policy and program 
recommendations for the state’s economic recovery from COVID-19. It will
 examine taxation, business financing, regulatory issues and operations 
at the state departments of commerce and labor, he said.“There’s a lot of work to 
be done to make sure the Kansas economy rebounds post-COVID at a pace 
that keeps the doors open for our local businesses and ag producers,” 
said Rep. Blaine Finch, R-Ottawa. “This allows us to … identify where 
the gaps are and to make sure the federal stimulus dollars coming to 
Kansas are being used to jumpstart the economy.”House Minority Leader Tom 
Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat, said recovery from the pandemic would be 
aided by retention of the 26-week unemployment benefit that was passed 
this year as the virus spread across the country. He said state 
lawmakers should reduce the 6.5 percent sales tax on groceries to help 
families purchase essentials.A $5 million business loan
 program operated by the state commerce department should be expanded 
after applications outstripped available cash, Sawyer said.“The money went really fast. Reopening something like that will open up money for small businesses,” Sawyer said.An alternativeChandler Burrows, a 
Republican from Rolla who is running against incumbent Republican Rep. 
Marty Long in the most southwestern district of Kansas, said the state’s
 economy has been “severely mismanaged for several decades.” Because of 
the pandemic, the state is facing a massive unemployment problem, 
Burrows said, and Kelly’s response has been “low intensity.”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1595447839321.jpeg" alt="Chandler Burrows, a Rolla resident who is running in a Republican primary race for a seat in the Kansas House, says the state needs to be more aggressive in addressing unemployment in the wake of the pandemic. (Submitted by Chandler Burrows to Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Chandler Burrows, a Rolla resident who is running in a Republican primary race for a seat in the Kansas House, says the state needs to be more aggressive in addressing unemployment in the wake of the pandemic. (Submitted by Chandler Burrows to Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>He proposed abandoning the
 fiscal responsibility of a balanced budget and instead take on more 
debt — like a big corporation might do — to invest in the state’s 
future. During a recession, he said, government needs to address 
unemployment, make sure businesses don’t shut their doors and make sure 
people don’t lose their homes.“I’m talking about either 
assisting private businesses with helping people get back to work or a 
public works program,” Burrows said, “and you know there’s a lot of work
 that needs to be done in our state — making sure there’s high speed 
internet for every county in Kansas, basic maintenance stuff, 
beautification projects that we could put people back to work on. Not on
 a permanent basis, but until the economy’s in good enough shape where 
the private sector can pick up the rest of that slack.”He is concerned his fellow Republicans will pursue another option during next year’s legislative session.“There’s an alternate 
theory on how to handle the recession, which is pretty much just let the
 recovery take its course,” Burrows said. “And that sort of aligns more 
into the orthodox Republicans ideas. I just think that if we actually do
 something like that, it will be an absolute disaster for our state. We 
can’t afford to let the recession take its course. We need to actively 
intervene and do some hands-on management of the economy to get us 
through the situation.”The criticismKelly was denounced by 
Republican lawmakers for being the first governor to order an end to 
in-person K-12 school instruction in March. She was criticized for a 
statewide stay-at-home order also implemented to slow spread of 
COVID-19, which skeptics claimed unnecessarily contributed to economic 
disruption as “nonessential” workers were prevented from working. Her 
order to limit mass gatherings in churches was challenged in court.The governor said she 
appreciated the weight of her decisions on 3 million Kansans, but was 
unapologetic about her desire to put public health above other 
considerations.“Whenever you’re making 
decisions that impact everybody’s life, it’s huge. So we, from the very 
beginning, decided to rely on science and our public health experts to 
help guide us through this,” Kelly said.She said the Legislature 
made some “very bad decisions” that handcuffed her ability to fight the 
spread of COVID-19. The onus of those decisions was eventually 
transferred to county health officials and county commissioners. Since 
that transition, the number of positive COVID-19 cases has escalated.She said 14 years as a Topeka state senator helped her develop a thick skin to second guessing of decisions.“I’m also the mother of 
two girls,” the governor said. “I’m used to a lot of back talk and have 
figured out how to deal with that over the years.”Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.&nbsp;

Kelly shields core government services as COVID-19 rocks Kan. economy