The Coronavirus Blew a $650Million Hole in Kansas’ Budget, Putting Even School Funding in Jeopardy

LAWRENCE, Kansas — When Kansas lawmakers left for an early spring break in mid-March, the state was projected to have a healthy savings account of nearly $1 billion in reserves come June. They passed an $8 billion budget as the coronavirus pandemic was just beginning, not knowing whether they’d even come back to Topeka.

Since then, the virus caused thousands of businesses across Kansas to close and…