Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, noted that the state faced a similar situation in June 2015, but lawmakers passed a bill declaring more than 24,000 employees “essential” to head off furloughs.

“We find ourselves once again on the precipice, and we find legislators coerced by circumstance,” Carmichael said. “If we had been working the budget, if we had been working a real tax plan starting at Day 1 … we wouldn’t find ourselves in this last-minute potential disaster.”

He said frustration, mounting with now the second-longest legislative session in state history, would deepen if furloughs are made.

“If this was a business, the stockholders would fire the board of directors and the CEO,” Carmichael said.

Read the full story at http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article154663619.html