TOPEKA — Two state senators have called for a constitutional amendment creating a state rainy day fund to protect vital Knsas programs in hard times and slow down spending when the state has lots of cash. Republican John Vratil of Leawood and Democrat Laura Kelly of Topeka said the state’s present budget mess in which several needed programs have been cut drastically shows why such an amendment is needed. The amendment would require money to be set aside in an account that legislators couldn’t touch except during those years state revenues fall. They said that Kansas is only one of five states that doesn’t have a rainy-day fund. An amendment would have to be approved by two-thirds of both legislative houses and a majority of the state’s voters.
