Kansans await positive action on our finances

opinions

March 1, 2017 - 12:00 AM

The Associated Press: “In a week’s time, the state House approved a huge increase in personal income taxes, voted to override Brownback’s all-but-inevitable veto and approved an expansion of the state’s Medicaid program he vigorously opposes. Supporters of the tax bill couldn’t override the veto in the Senate, but they had a solid majority for undoing the past Brownback-inspired cuts in personal income taxes.”
The House demographic has changed sufficiently — as the veto override  proved — to move forward to a sane fiscal approach. Of its 85 Republicans, enough are moderate to make a difference, so long as the 40 Democrats stay the course — an outcome that surely will prevail.
The GOP holds a 31-9 margin in the Senate. Passage of the House tax bill, and 24 votes (27 needed) to override Brownback’s veto, shows more than a semblance of understanding the revenue-budget problems.
We have to wonder how long Gov. Sam Brownback will stay tuned to economist Arthur Laffer’s supply-side economics, which so far has been an economic pogrom for Kansas.
Here’s what we face, depending on how February revenue fares when announced (later today):
By June 30, the end of fiscal year 2017, legislators will either have to generate enough income to meet a $320 million shortfall, or dourly accept Brownback’s proposals to increase tobacco and alcohol taxes and borrow from internal investments, maybe even sweep money from the state retirement system. The sin taxes (tobacco and alcohol) aren’t much more than cursory efforts; meanwhile, borrowing and sweeping money from KDOT, and other reserves, have put a blemish on the state’s credit rating.
Rep. Kent Thompson, who fearfully predicted the Senate would sustain Brownback’s veto, has no immediate answer other than working again toward restoration of income tax cuts of 2012-13. Foes, such as the Kansas Chamber, Americans for Prosperity and Kansas Club for Growth, characterized House action as the “largest tax increase ever.” Not so. It was restoration of what had been cut — and not completely.
The second shoe that will drop soon, which restoration of income tax cuts would help immensely to alleviate, is a projected revenue deficit of $1.1 billion through the end of fiscal year 2019 that occurs on June 30 of calendar year 2019.

THE ONLY logical solution, unless something completely unforeseen surfaces, is for legislators to hammer away at income taxes until three more senators arouse from their intransigence and give the senior chamber enough votes to override a Brownback veto, as of today a foregone conclusion.

— Bob Johnson

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