State and local government spending has gone up nearly 300 percent – plus inflation – over last 50 years

Economist Jonathan Williams will outline policy paper on the need for state legislators to exercise fiscal restraint and put a lid on state spending

The Kansas chapter of the free-market organization Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Foundation and the state-based think tank Flint Hills Center for Public Policy welcome to Kansas fiscal policy expert Jonathan Williams. Williams is a Fiscal Policy Fellow with the Flint Hills Center and is currently Director of Tax and Fiscal Policy at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Before joining ALEC, he was an economist with the Tax Foundation.

Williams has written a policy paper, “Now More Than Ever: The Need for a Self-Imposed Spending Cap for the Legislature,” which highlights the need for the Kansas government to implement a lid for the growth of the state general fund.

“Today, the combined spending from state and local governments in Kansas exceeds $16 billion annually, up from $4 billion in 1957,” Williams said. “Even when adjusted for inflation, it represents a state and local government spending growth rate of 279 percent during that period.”

WHO: Fiscal policy expert Jonathan Williams

WHAT: News conference regarding a spending cap for state government

WHEN: 10:30 a.m. Monday, October 22

WHERE: Wichita Independent Business Association (445 N. Waco, Wichita)

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