Kansas governor speaks on spending, taxes

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In a press conference this afternoon, Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson said there are no more spending cuts possible, and that taxes must be raised.

Parkinson said the Kansas economy has made progress, but there are still significant challenges. He said that in February the unemployment rate went down, and that has been noticed in the declining number unemployment benefits applications.

He said that March revenues may exceed estimates.

Concerning the first part of the legislative session, Parkinson said that the consensus is that state programs can’t be cut any farther. He said that after one billion dollars in cuts, there are no more possible cuts. “There just isn’t any other area that we can cut.” Some conservative legislators have confided to him that they agree, he said.

He said the “Yoder budget,” which he said calls for cutting school spending while at the same time leading to potential property tax increases, has gone nowhere. He said he believes this budget doesn’t have enough votes to proceed.

The solution is not painful, Parkinson said. He said we should raise the tobacco tax to the national average and pass the temporary one cent sales tax. He repeated the assertion, as he has in the past, that the people of Wichita didn’t notice the start or the end of the one cent sales tax used to build the Intrust Bank Arena.

The tax would go away, he said, except for a small part used to fund a highway plan.

Other reporting is at Parkinson, Senate leaders predict mix of tax increases to solve budget crisis and Gov renews call for tax increases. State of the State KS provides video at Governor Calls House Budget Reckless and Says Legislators See Need For Taxes.

Comments

4 responses to “Kansas governor speaks on spending, taxes”

  1. Anonymous

    I’m not sure who the governor was talking about, but I ALWAYS notice when my taxes are raised and also when they are, uncharacteristically, lowered. jjpc

  2. Mike

    Hi, I didn’t get all excited about a Democratic Governor in Kansas wanting more spending. He’s a Democrat, he knows better than you do, how to spend all of your money. He’s unlikely to be reelected anyway.

    In a way, Kansas is unfortunate in having too many varieties of Conservatives to totally unite and effectively crush the local progressives. If we had just slightly fewer, we would have to unite, and probably would.

    Mike

  3. Dismal Scientist

    Mike, you need to unite under the banner of liberty and that would mean giving up on the GOP and joining the Libertarian Party. Come on in son of liberty the water is fine!

  4. Betty Sue

    The governor is out of his mind!!Of course ,Wichitans noticed when the Arena tax was taken off;what kind of fools does he think we are? I postponed purchases of large ticket items until the additional tax was finally taken off.
    I can think of many ways expenses can be cut,starting with his salary/benefits;in my opinion,his concern for the good of the state is zip,nada,non-existent!!

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