Topeka Kansas To Stop Prosecuting Domestic Violence Cases – Lack of Money – Republican Governor to Enact Tax Cuts

Makes Sense to Conservatives

The money problems of state and local governments are well documented.  The Great Recession caused a huge drop in revenues, while at the same time it caused an increase in the demand for services.  To meet this crisis part of the President's stimulus plan was to provide funding for state and local governments to help them get through this period until they could deal with the problem directly.

The stimulus money has run out, and the Great Recession has morphed into the Great Stall and state and local governments still have severe budget problems.  In Topeka they are dealing with it this way.  The city will no longer prosecute misdemeanor cases of domestic violence.

City leaders had blamed the Shawnee County district attorney for handing off such cases to the city without warning. The district attorney, in turn, said he was forced to not prosecute any misdemeanors and to focus on felonies because the County Commission cut his budget. And county leaders accused the district attorney of using abused women as pawns to negotiate more money for his office.

The problem, as with most problems, is money

Though Kansas and its capital city have fared better than much of the country in this struggling economy, they are not immune to fiscal strains. The district attorney’s budget of $3.5 million was cut by 10 percent, which would force about a dozen layoffs. Meanwhile the office is dealing with what Mr. Taylor describes as a “recent uptick in violent crime,” which he attributed to increased gang activity.

Now the first priority of government is public safety.  Except where Conservatives are involved, the first priority is cutting taxes.  Kansas elected an extremely conservative governor in 2010, and his response to issues like this.

Some critics pointed out that even as local governments are cutting deeper into important services, Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, is preparing a sweeping tax cut plan.

The logic here is not explained, but presumably Conservatives believe that domestic violence, like every other societal problem can be cured by tax cuts.