On Thursday, we flooded the halls of the Statehouse with grassroots activists telling their legislators not to raise our taxes to close the state's budget gap. More than 100 Kansans turned out to take action following the success of last month's Taxpayer Tea Parties across the state.

After a briefing on the Kansas budget from AFP-Kansas state director Derrick Sontag, activists marched to the Statehouse to visit legislative offices and even catch lawmakers out in the halls all with the same message: do not rely on taxpayers to fix this budget. The message on this t-shirt is probably the best way to sum it up.

These activists did a great job filling the halls of the Kansas Capitol, and doing their best to meet with their elected representatives face-to-face. Although our "Flood the Halls" event has passed, you can still do your part to "Make the Calls." Take a look at the attached information at the bottom of this article: Kansas Tax Talking Points and the Kansas State Spending Policy Primer. Both of these documents contain important information about the Kansas budget and the spending by the Kansas Legislature.

In looking at the Kansas State General Fund (SGF), since 2002, our state SGF budget has gone up by 38%. However, spending has increased 48% in that time frame. It's not difficult to see how our spending has continually outpaced revenues.

To contact your legislator, visit www.kslegislature.org. There you can find the personal websites of all Kansas legislators, as well as their phone numbers and email addresses. If you don't know who your legislators are, visit http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/ksdata/vote/ for maps and a directory of legislative districts.

A reporter interviews Wichita activist Emily Domitrovic

Activists made their own t-shirts to wear to the Statehouse