Deficit remains
No ownership of problem
No resolve in sight

In the spirit of brevity, as a commentary on the brevity of the work conducted on the state budget this legislative session, and this past week in particular, we present you with this poem, and a succinct legislative update.

Send us your own haiku, tagged with #haiku4ks, #ksleg, and @ksmainstream

We suggest these informative summaries for more details on the Kansas legislative budget woes.

• Insightful – by Andy Marso, for Kansas Health Institute
• Chronological – by Mark Desetti, Under the Dome 
• Woeful - by Bryan Lowry, for the Wichita Eagle

Governor Brownback has now signed 75 bills into law this session and vetoed one, over-ridden by the legislature. A few of the more noteworthy bills signed most recently include:

• Energy.  House Substitute for SB 91  -- replaces the renewable energy portfolio requirements with a voluntary renewable energy goal, and reduces lifetime property tax exemptions for new properties to ten years, and excludes individuals or companies that generate electricity from renewable resources from the definition  of public utility, unless the taxpayer prefers to remain a public utility, for tax purposes. Learn more at the Wichita Eagle
• Fantasy sports betting. HB 2155 – establishes the Kansas charitable gaming act; creates definitions and restrictions on fantasy sports leagues; and addresses specific aspects of the Kansas Lottery. Coverage from Casino.org (?)
• Elections. On the lookout for signatures on the substantive changes to local elections and the Secretary of State’s new criminal prosecutorial authority against voting ‘crimes’. Read more at VICE