Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, said the state faced a similar situation in June 2015, when lawmakers passed a bill: http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article23266023.html to declare 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 about the second-longest legislative session in state history would deepen if furloughs were 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.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article154696654.html