Category: Kansas state government
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Kansas Governor misleads Kansans on taxes
If President Reagan had attended Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson’s press conference last Friday, he likely would have said, “There you go again…” in response to Parkinson’s claim that $9 billion in tax cuts and exemptions over the last decade are to blame for the budget crisis.
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Tax increases will cost Kansas jobs, economic freedom
As Kansas struggles to deal with a budget deficit, Democrats and even some Republicans are proposing tax increases, particularly an increase — temporary, they say — in the sales tax. A common argument advanced is that an extra one cent tax on every dollar spent will hardly be noticed. The one cent tax used to…
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Wichita legislative forum highlights differences in approach to government spending
Yesterday over 200 people packed a room at Wichita State University to attend a forum of Wichita-area Kansas state legislators. The meeting was chaired by Representative Steve Brunk, a Republican who represents Bel Aire and parts of far northeast Wichita.
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Kansas historic preservation tax credits: the hearing
On Wednesday, the Taxation Committee of the Kansas House of Representatives heard testimony on HB 2496, which would expand the historic preservation tax credit program. This program provides tax credits to qualified historic preservation projects. I testified at the hearing, and my written testimony is at Kansas historic preservation tax credits should not be expanded.
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Kansas historic preservation tax credits should not be expanded
The Kansas historic preservation tax credit system should not be expanded beyond its current limit. We must recognize that a tax credit is an appropriation of Kansans’ money made through the tax system. If the legislature is not comfortable with writing a developer a check for over $1,000,000 — as in the case with one…
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Strange happenings in Kansas at Washington Days
Lobbyists were talking about one of the stranger receptions that they’ve attended in recent memory: one organized by Parkinson to introduced lobbyists and political operatives to Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, who is seeking the governorship
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Kansas long-term debt on the rise
On Saturday in Arkansas City, Kansas House Member Kasha Kelley gave an overview of the Kansas budget. One of the topics she presented was the rise in long-term debt issued by the state. I investigated, and found these figures from the Kansas Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for 2009. As you can see, the debt in…
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AFP-Kansas launches website about tobacco taxes
The Kansas chapter of the grassroots group Americans for Prosperity is working to educate Kansans on the effects of tobacco tax increases on Kansas businesses by creating a new Web site, StopTheWarOnSmokers.Com.
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Your Kansas Tax Dollars: Efficient, Effective & Targeted?
following is a press release concerning an event of interest this Saturday in Arkansas City. Arkansas City (February 16, 2010) – “In any economy, but especially our current economy, the use of tax dollars is an issue every Kansas taxpayer should be interested and involved in. As we visit with citizens, we’re finding they do…
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Kansas sales tax exemptions don’t hold all the advertised allure
Advocates of eliminating sales tax exemptions in Kansas point to the great amount of revenue that could be raised if Kansas eliminated these exemptions, estimated at some $4.2 billion per year. Analysis of the nature of the exemptions and the amounts of money involved, however, leads us to realize that the additional tax revenue that…
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Smoking ban advocate says some claims just smoke
Opponents to a statewide total smoking ban say anti-tobacco advocates are playing a little loose with their facts. They have an unlikely ally in Michael Siegel, a medical doctor and professor of community health sciences at Boston University’s School of Public Health. He’s a long-standing anti-tobacco advocate, a proponent of smoking bans and a strong…
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Americans for Prosperity model budget to be presented
This Friday Derrick Sontag, Kansas State Director for Americans for Prosperity, will address members and guests of the Wichita Pachyderm Club. His topic is “An update on the budget shortfall in Kansas, how we got there through excessive spending, and how our state’s tax burden compares with neighboring states.” AFP’s model budget for Kansas is…