Category: Kansas state government

  • In Kansas, phony tax cut debate

    Some who oppose cutting income tax rates in Kansas are using slight of hand to make the case that Kansas can’t afford to cut taxes.

  • Kansas tax reform is needed

    In Kansas, lower income tax rates are needed to ensure that Kansas has a bright economic future. Failing to reform income tax rates will mean that Kansas will continue to under-perform other states.

  • Kansas could grow with lower taxes

    Two research papers illustrate the need to reduce taxes in Kansas, finding that high taxes are associated with reduced income and low economic growth. Research such as this rebuts the presumption of government spending advocates that reducing taxes will kill jobs in Kansas.

  • Kansans uninformed on school spending

    As the Kansas Legislature debates spending on schools, we have to hope that legislators are more knowledgeable about school spending than the average Kansan. Surveys have found that few Kansans have accurate information regarding school spending. Surprisingly, those with children in the public school system are even more likely to be uninformed regarding accurate figures.…

  • Kansas state spending is not, itself, a good

    In the debate over reducing and eventually eliminating the income tax in Kansas, those who oppose income tax reduction say it will simply shift the burden of taxation to others, in the form of sales and property taxes. This is true only if we decide to keep spending at the same rate. We could cut…

  • In Kansas, tax reform is about job creation

    Two groups working to create a more competitive economic environment in Kansas are Americans for Prosperity, Kansas and Kansas Policy Institute. Their video commercial from earlier this year that explains the urgent situation in Kansas is below.

  • In Kansas, STAR bonds vote uplifted cronyism over capitalism

    In Kansas, many purportedly fiscally conservative members of the House and Senate voted to uplift cronyism over capitalism by extending the STAR bonds program.

  • Kansas should improve economic climate, rely less on incentives

    Kansas has a history of giving incentives to attract business. Despite this, businesses are leaving, and taking jobs and revenue with them, writes Maurice McTigue of the Mercatus Center.

  • Kansas may again resort to government art

    Kansas may be ready to restore some state funding for the arts. But for reasons economic, human, and artistic, we ought to keep Kansas government out of art. Kansas should allow people themselves to decide how to spend their own money on what they think is important to them. To implement government funding of art…

  • In Kansas, no E-verify, please

    The hope that if we can somehow stop illegal immigrants from obtaining jobs, then unemployed Americans can go back to work, is a false hope. For that and other reasons, I can’t join with Kansas conservatives who support E-verify and other harsh anti-immigrant measures.

  • Kansas and Wichita need pay-to-play laws

    In Wichita, campaign contributions made to city council candidates often are not about supporting political ideologies — liberal, moderate, or conservative. It’s about opportunists seeking money from government. Pay-to-play laws can help control this harmful practice.

  • Kansas STAR bonds vote a test for capitalism

    An upcoming vote in the Kansas House of Representatives will let Kansans know who is truly in favor of economic freedom, limited government, and free market capitalism — and who favors crony capitalism instead.