By Rep. Kent Thompson
There are some days in Topeka that aren’t much different than a day on my farm, filled with hard work and wading through the manure. After being elected, I received the following advice, “there are people in Topeka who want to play politics and people who want to make policy. It’s your job to know the difference.” That advice rang true during the final days of the veto session.
There was an effort to pass H Sub SB 63, hailed as the “LLC fix” to the governor’s 2012 tax plan. I voted against this bill for a number of reasons and I’d like to tell you why.
This bill was drafted in a back room, it never had a committee hearing and no one could explain the real impact to the state. Bad things happen when we abandon the process and start writing policy on the fly. This is the same way we ended up with the governor’s 2012 tax plan in the first place. Your family wouldn’t make major financial decisions without knowing all the facts and I don’t think the state should either.
Don’t be fooled, this bill does not solve the problem. In reality, it would have triggered more corporate tax breaks, exacerbating the problem while our families picked up the tab. This bill wasn’t going to stop the sweep of the highway funds. It wasn’t going to stop the borrowing from KPERS. It wasn’t going stop the cuts to higher education and other essential services. And it wasn’t going to balance the budget. This vote was nothing more than an election year tactic for those trying to separate themselves from failed tax policy rather than admitting that it isn’t working.
You know I want to fix things. I have always been willing to talk about the reform needed to create a fair, stable and reliable tax policy for all Kansans. Unfortunately, there are not enough of us fighting for real revenue reform.
Each legislative session, I cast hundreds of votes on behalf of our community. I do so with my friends and neighbors in mind. For me, putting people before politics isn’t just the right thing to do, it is the way I was raised and how I vote.
Rep. Kent Thompson may be reached at: [email protected] or (620) 365-3197
