Amid wide policy swings, Kansas and Missouri officials puzzle over big federal funding cuts

by Martin Rosenberg, Beacon: Kansas City

Gov. Laura Kelly worries about dwindling water resources that will need ongoing federal support if western Kansas is to remain habitable in 50 years.

She is concerned about the national health impact of firing more than two dozen federal scientists in Manhattan, Kansas, who protect Americans from animal-borne diseases and other health threats.

Mike Kelly, chair of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, wonders what will happen to wastewater infrastructure and assistance for children or the aged in the face of looming federal spending cuts.

Both the governor and the county commissioner have been in touch with local members of Congress trying to shore up what has long been routine federal support.

“The fact we have had to have these conversations is disheartening,” the governor said. “We really do not know what is happening. It seems to change every hour.”

The Trump administration has slashed employment in the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Internal Revenue Service and is ready to move on to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Education and many other departments and agencies.

On top of that, Congress by March 14 must come up with a plan to fund government operations for the current fiscal year.

The White House may be 1,071 miles from Kansas City, but its impact on the local economy is right around the corner.

The Kansas City metropolitan area, with nearly 30,000 federal employees, has the eighth-highest percentage among all metros in the country of federal workers in its population, according to David Warm, executive director of the Mid-America Regional Council, which serves 119 cities and nine counties.

“Everybody is rightfully concerned,” Mike Kelly said, “being in a period of unique uncertainty.”

Fretting about federal funding

Big worries about federal spending extend in every direction.

Consider the $17 billion in wind turbine investments that have made Kansas the third-largest state generator of wind power.

Federal “conditional commitment” funding of $4.9 billion for a new 800-mile transmission line, the Grain Belt Express, is imperiled, according to a Canary Media report. The project is designed to connect Kansas and three other states to power markets.

Chicago-based Invenergy, which is developing the transmission line, issued the following email comment to The Beacon:

“We believe that projects like Grain Belt Express, which will provide much-needed grid backbone infrastructure to regions serving 40% of American households and over 25% of Department of Defense installations, will be prioritized for investment. Grain Belt Express will deliver $52 billion in cost savings to American energy consumers over 15 years.”

Mike Kelly said that Johnson County over the next few years expected to receive $80 million in federal support. Earlier this week he was in the nation’s capital meeting with members of the local congressional delegation and attending a national gathering of county officials.

Last year, Johnson County received $44 million in federal funding.

The money is used to fund roads, wastewater treatment, police, sheriffs, children, the less fortunate and the aging community.

“Like all other counties, we rely on the federal government for significant partnership,” Mike Kelly said. Going forward, “the number one priority of local officials is to provide all the services we provide to the citizens of Johnson County. It’s going to take some innovation.”

Local and state governments have grown increasingly dependent on the federal government’s ability to raise large sums through taxation that have been returned to local communities to achieve a wide range of policy objectives.

Last year, federal spending directed at state, local and tribal governments amounted to more than $1 trillion.

Warm of MARC said that last week he and his board reviewed 60 grants his organization helps administer from 10 or more federal agencies.

In addition, local governments receive federal funds routed directly to them or from state agencies passing along federal money.

In transportation, “the 2025 projects we programmed totaled $137 million,” Warm  said. “About $76 million is obligated and not considered at risk. The remaining $61 million is still in pre-contracting and approval phases and could be considered at risk, though we are hopeful that they will advance in a timely manner and receive federal approval.”

On the human services front, MARC oversees a $12.7 million program that makes fresh fruits and vegetables more readily available to 180,000 low-income people in Kansas and western Missouri.

“That’s continuing but they are slowing down applications for next year,” Warm said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture “has not offered reasons why it was paused.”

Brian Platt, city manager in Kansas City, Missouri, declined to discuss the city’s exposure to possible federal funding cuts at this time.

“Our team is still calculating and estimating these figures,” Platt wrote in an email. “We also aren’t quite sure at this moment exactly what is truly at risk. We can circle back in a few weeks once we’ve had a chance to dig deeper.”

Warm said he would not be surprised if the city’s exposure to federal funding reaches into hundreds of millions of dollars.

Widespread economic impact

In January, Gov. Kelly and Commissioner Kelly attended a briefing at the new $4 billion Panasonic electric battery manufacturing plant in DeSoto, the largest private investment in Kansas history.

Panasonic said it is in line to receive up to $6.8 billion in federal tax incentives by 2032. It is not known to what extent those incentives may be withdrawn. The Trump administration wants to end federal subsidies for electric transportation put in place by the Biden administration.

Both Gov. Kelly and Commissioner Kelly said they do not believe that the Panasonic project, set to open soon, faces any imminent federal support problems.

“They came here not because of the federal tax benefit,” Mike Kelly said. “I fully expect they will be successful.”

Mike Kelly said that change is a constant in government, and he looks to learn and be inspired by others in county and local government around the country innovating despite federal funding challenges.

During the first Trump administration, a new generation of  leaders was inspired to get into government.

“I was one of them,” said Mike Kelly, who became mayor of Roeland Park in 2017. He said that cohort notably worked together to forge Climate Action KC, a regional nonprofit dedicated to fighting climate change.

While in Washington this week, Kelly said he reached out to the Trump administration to request a meeting.

“I am hoping I get an opportunity to sit down with the team in the administration,” he said.

Asked if his calls are getting returned, Kelly said, “I know it is a period of transition.”

Gov. Kelly said she is concerned about the fate of the sizable federal workforce in the state, which amounts to 18,000 workers.

She also is focused on state water resources. The governor said her administration has been developing a long-term plan “to ensure that two generations following us will have enough water.”

“It’s all premised on what we’ve gotten from the federal government for decades,” she said. “We’re looking for a dedicated funding source. We have to figure out how to do it well or there won’t be a western Kansas in 50 years.”

In addition, small Kansas cities depend on federal support for relatively small projects, maybe $1 million per community. “Not a ton of money but vital,” Gov. Kelly said.

Kansas farmers have been hurt by cuts in federal foreign aid programs that have been stimulating agriculture exports from the state.

About $6.4 billion of goods, half of all Kansas exports, go to Mexico, Canada and China, three countries currently in a burgeoning trade war with America.

The governor said that pushback from America’s trading partners may lead the federal government to adopt more sensible trade policies.

“Hopefully we figure out how to run the federal government more efficiently in a way that does not undermine the very foundation of our country,” the governor said.

“I am used to working in a difficult environment,” said Gov. Kelly, a Democrat who has had to work with a solidly Republican state legislature. “I figure out ways to get things done.”

 

 

 

This article first appeared on Beacon: Kansas City and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.