Voice For Liberty

Tag: Kansas legislature

Articles about the Kansas legislature, both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

  • Wichita-area legislative meeting report, commentary

    Wendy Aylworth provides reporting and analysis from Saturday’s meeting of the South-central Kansas Legislative Delegation with citizens.

    Protesters adamantly in favor of a one cent per dollar sales tax increase crowded the sidewalk outside the South-Central Kansas Legislative Forum Saturday morning. Some wore purple shirts and some held signs reading “A Penny for Education” and “Support Our Schools.” There was no one with a sign opposing a tax increase.

    Inside the meeting room the crowd appeared overwhelmingly in favor of the tax increase. Sen. Jean Schodorf, who arrived late, pointed out this is what she wanted to hear, “what we should be doing.”

    The audience was not polled regarding their wishes, but if there were any opposed to the tax increase they went unseen. People carrying signs promoting the tax continued to do so inside the building, during the forum, and the voices from the audience during the meeting were clearly in favor of the sales tax increase.

    (more…)

  • Wichita-area legislative meeting reveals differences in approach to government

    Yesterday’s meeting of the South-central Kansas legislative delegation with citizens featured, in the words of one senator, a level of intensity not seen in previous meetings of this body. Senator Dick Kelsey made this observation, remarking that this is the first such meeting where the two parties have been mentioned. Following are a few notes and observations from this meeting.

    Conservative groups and advocates often display a chart showing that Kansas spending increased very rapidly during much of the last decade. Representative Melody McCray-Miller reminded the audience that it is Republicans who have been in the majority of both the House of Representatives and the Senate during this time.

    A suggestion by Representative Kasha Kelley that the state could sell some assets to help with the budget was met with disapproval from some members of the audience.

    The audience, which was composed largely of advocates for school spending, union leaders and members representing Kansas state government employees, and people needing social services, cheered several times at mentions of raising the state’s sales tax. Suggestions involving cutting spending or other solutions were not met with approval.

    Representative Marc Rhoades of Newton, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and vice chair of the Social Services Budget Committee, gave several examples of how some funding for social services has been restored. He said that the committee takes “a lot of pride in working together across party lines.” He added that there is an effort to increase the state’s investigation of fraud. He said that the former Inspector General of the Kansas Health Policy Authority quit. At the time the Wichita Eagle reported that Robin Kempf “said she resigned from the post because agency managers pressured her and interfered with her ability to do her job.”

    Representative Jim Ward, however, disagreed with Rhoades’ characterization of bipartisanship, noting that not one Democrat voted for the budget passed out of the committee, and mentioning large across-the-board cuts.

    Ward said there is “Fundamental disagreement on values on the state budget.” Some groups — he pointed to material provided by the Kansas Policy Institute — want to cut taxes and let the economy grow. But Ward said that at some point spending cuts will prevent state agencies from fulfilling their mission, mentioning Meals on Wheels and schools specifically.

    Ward mentioned another type of spending the state does: “We spent over $12 billion in tax cuts the in the last ten years.”

    Senator Les Donovan, who is chair of the Kansas Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee spoke about the tax increase proposals that were heard in that committee. His committee heard several days of testimony on raising various taxes such as the sales tax, alcohol tax, tobacco tax, and creating a new tax on sugar in soft drinks. Donovan “moderated” each of these taxes, proposing to implement them at a lower rate than what was introduced in the bill. But each tax bill failed to make it out of that committee. (See Kansas sugar tax testimony heard, bill doesn’t advance, Tax on beer, liquor subject of Kansas Senate committee hearing, and Kansas tax increases promoted, even by Republicans.)

    In his remarks yesterday Donovan listed — from memory — tax cuts that have been made: A cut in income tax rates for single individuals, an increase in the personal tax exemption, elimination of the marriage penalty, removal of the sales tax on residential remodeling, a cut of 15 mills from property tax (both commercial and residential, with close to 80% of the property being residential), removal of income tax on military retirement pay, a reduction in the taxes on automobile registration, creation of an exemption of $20,000 of valuation on residential property taxes, an increase in the earned income tax credit (a program at both the federal and state levels that issues grants to low income families), an increase in the food sales tax rebate program, exemption of social security payments from Kansas taxation for many families, exemption of residential utilities from sales tax, and elimination of the Kansas inheritance tax.

    Donovan said that these tax cuts are larger, by far, than the business tax cuts that spending advocates, including Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson, blame in part for the current budget deficit.

  • Kansas legislative ratings posted

    I’ve come into possession of some of the Kansas legislature vote ratings that Karl Peterjohn of the Kansas Taxpayers Network produced. I’ve made available the annual ratings of both the Kansas House of Representatives and the Kansas Senate back to 1996. Only the ratings for 2002 are missing from this collection.

    These ratings are valuable because they record what legislators actually do, which is in some cases very different from what legislators say they do.

    The ratings can be found at Kansas legislative scorecards and rankings.

    A related project is my Kansas Economic Freedom Index.

  • Kansas budget can be balanced without tax increases

    As the Kansas Legislature prepares to get to work next week producing a budget plan for the next year, Kansans are being told that tax increases are inevitable. Several sources, however, have ideas and detailed plans as to how the state can avoid tax increases.

    Kansas Senator Chris Steineger, a Democrat from Kansas City, has a list of cost-cutting measures that could be implemented quickly. See Kansas can have fast, achievable savings for his list.

    Steineger also has what he calls the billion dollar list, which contains items that could save even more money. Some of these proposals such as downsizing the legislature, consolidation of Kansas counties, and consolidation of state agencies, might take more time to implement. But these proposals, if implemented, would place Kansas government on a permanent low-cost track.

    The Kansas Policy Institute has developed some proposals for savings that it delivered in the form of a letter to Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson. The proposal contains some revenue enhancements that are not in the form of tax increases, which is usually what proponents of revenue enhancements mean. It also contains many cost-cutting measures.

    In the letter, KPI President Dave Trabert raises a point that I’ve not heard from any other source. The large budget gap that is routinely mentioned is composed in part of federal stimulus (ARRA) dollars that Kansas received, just like other states. But these funds will not be available in the next budget year, fiscal year 2011. According to KPI, ARRA funds accounted for $205 million of spending in fiscal year 2010.

    Should these “missing” funds — which everyone knew were temporary — now be used to create a large “budget gap” in order to justify the need for tax increases? Trabert explains: “KPI uses a taxpayer-focused approach that defines 2010 spending as that which was funded by state taxes. Your proposed 2011 budget would allow government to continue spending at levels funded by both state and federal tax dollars. It was well known that the stimulus money was temporary and that the state should plan accordingly, so state taxpayers should not be required to pay more to make up the difference.”

    The need to avoid further tax increases is vital to the Kansas economy, as Trabert notes in his letter to the governor: “The Kansas economy is already absorbing a $163 million unemployment tax increase that is negatively impacting jobs and we must do everything we can to avoid further damage.”

    The KPI letter and analysis may be read by clicking on Letter to Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson.

    Another plan comes from Americans for Prosperity-Kansas, which has prepared its commonsense budget proposal for fiscal year 2011. AFP’s plan contains both long-term and short-term measures for restoring our state’s fiscal health. It contains many specific measures that could be taken immediately to balance the budget without raising taxes.

    The AFP document is a comprehensive look at Kansas government spending, as noted in the introduction: “Following the approach of a concise but broad-ranging examination of every function Kansas state government attempts to perform, AFP has produced a budget that makes real tax cuts possible for Kansas taxpayers. AFP has gone beyond the traditional cursory examinations of state spending where the stock solutions are merely eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and/or rooting out duplication.”

    As an example, for the Revisor of Statutes office the proposal suggests this: “This department received an increase of over 23 percent for FY 2008 which only partially reflects the cost of two FTEs for committee staffing. With the updated computer systems and additional staffing the Revisor’s office should be able to suffice with the reduction of 15 percent of appropriations funding.”

    The AFP budget proposal was developed by Steven J. Anderson, a certified public accountant with extensive experience in government accounting and budgets.

    The AFP budget proposal may be read at AFP-Kansas releases FY 2011 “Commonsense Budget Proposal.”

  • Kansas small business will be harmed by targeted tax increases

    In the following op-ed, Philip Bradley explains the harm that targeted tax increases will bring on small businesses in Kansas. Bradley is a lobbyist — a member of a group of people widely criticized for obtaining special governmental favor for their clients. After spending quite a bit of time in Topeka this legislative session, I’ve realized that many lobbyists are simply trying to prevent their clients and their businesses and industries from being harmed by excessive taxation or harmful regulation. That’s certainly the case described below.

    For so many small business owners in Kansas, it has been nearly a two years since we started experiencing the toughest economic times ever. So many customers have quit coming into our establishments and those who have come will spend much less. Some small business owners have had to cut back employees and many more have reduced employee hours. And, worst of all, the personal investment portfolios built up for our futures have been cut in half.

    These crippling economic times do not bode well for this state where 70% of employees work for the small business owner. But for those of us who have owned our own shops for many years, 2008-2010 have not been the only years of tough times. Often, simply making the weekly payroll is a tough proposition regardless of how the rest of the economy is doing. That is why I believe the small business owners of Kansas will get through these rough times.

    Unlike many others, we do not ask for a “bail-out” or “stimulus package” from Washington or Topeka. We simply want to be treated fairly and be allowed to operate our businesses with the full rights of private property owners. We have been fortunate in Kansas that state and local government has not often dealt us a untenable heavy hand either with taxation or overregulation.

    But right now in Topeka, there is a threat on the horizon that could make it even tougher for some small business owners to make ends meet during this recession.

    As a representative of the Kansas Licensed Beverage Association, I encourage all owners of bars and taverns throughout our state to urge members of the Kansas Legislature to especially forget raising targeted taxes. How could any elected official who has met with any business owner in his district or any of the thousands of people who are laid off — even give any new taxes one thought?

    And why do the owners of bars and taverns care about new targeted taxes? It’s simple. On any given night, up to 50% of bar patrons are fixed or limited incomes. And many of them are blue collar workers or lower income retirees. If the Kansas Legislature nearly doubles the rate with new taxes targeted at specific businesses to solve the whole states spending shortfall as proposed, it will be another financial jab at some of our best customers. If our best customers have less to spend, then that really impacts hospitality venues even more and the already large tax burden we have.

    Legislators are being pushed by professional advocates with a tax spending agenda, regardless of the consequences to businesses and despite making the rough economic climate rougher. I hope legislators will listen to the taxpayers and not these lobbyists. We are not against education, schools, social programs or government. We are the first and usually the last folks that those groups come to for assistance in our local communities. And we give and help! We have and we will in the future, for we are not battling each other but working together to help our state weather this, just another storm.

    So, if new taxes are voted in, it means that state government has made a key contribution to worsening the personal and business situation of our members. And that is something that state government should not do to small business or any business in Kansas. Instead we all should and will create jobs, build communities and climb out and upward!

    I want to encourage all our bar, restaurant and tavern owners to quickly contact their members of the legislature and urge them to vote against all new targeted taxes that would punish selected businesses and reward others. Also, urge your customers to do the same. Right now, legislators are under a lot of pressure from tax receiving group’s lobbyists. Don’t let them shout you down!

    Philip Bradley, pbc consulting
    Representing Kansas Licensed Beverage Association, Kansas Viticulture & Farm Winery Association, Craft Brewers Guild of Kansas and Equal Entertainment Group.

  • Wichita area legislative meeting set

    Wichita area legislators will meet with the public this Saturday April 24. This meeting is right before the legislature starts meeting on Wednesday April 28 to formulate a budget for Kansas, making decisions on the level of spending and taxes.

    The time is 9:00 am to 11:00 am, at WIBA, the Wichita Independent Business Association, 445 N. Waco in Wichita. That’s the southwest corner of Central and Waco.

  • Kansas taxes and spending debated

    Should Kansas increase taxes or control spending in order to balance its budget? On the editorial page of the Wichita Eagle yesterday, three editorials discussed the Kansas budget, taxes, and spending.

    Rhonda Holman’s editorial featured Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson and his claims that the temporary one-cent sales tax used to fund the Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita wasn’t noticed, and therefore didn’t harm the economy. The governor’s reasoning is incorrect, as taxes do indeed harm the economy.

    When it was proposed in Wichita in 2002 to have a sales tax increase of one-half cent per dollar to build an arena, Wichita car dealers claimed that it would place them at a competitive disadvantage. So people and business do notice the effect of sales taxes.

    While the geography is different — the proposed Wichita sales tax was to be only for one city, while the governor’s sales tax is for the entire state — the principle is the same: Higher taxes in Kansas will place our state at a competitive disadvantage.

    This editorial also mentions “painful cuts to education” that have been made. More about that in a moment.

    A second editorial was written by Bernie Koch, who is Executive Director of the Kansas Economic Progress Council. He takes the position that we can’t make additional cuts, concluding that “To simply rely on cuts will damage the institutions and systems needed to survive the Great Recession and pursue economic recovery.”

    Referring to a SurveyUSA poll from last month, Koch wrote: “86 percent [of Kansans] said they were somewhat or very concerned about cuts to education.”

    The problem with this poll is that the people of Kansas are very uninformed about school spending and cuts. First, there are plenty of cuts to be made, cuts that don’t affect the classroom. Recently the Wichita school district was able to find $2.5 million annual savings by adjusting transportation schedules at a small number of schools. Now that district is looking at savings that can be had in administration.

    So when the Eagle editorial board and the governor claim that “painful cuts” have been made to schools, were those painful cuts made before transportation schedules were adjusted? Kansans should ask where these priorities are set.

    Second, Kansans are simply uninformed — perhaps deliberately misinformed — about the level of school spending, as a poll conducted by the Kansas Policy Institute found. This poll, released last week, found that “fewer than one Kansan in 10 has a clear idea how much money schools actually receive — or spend — to educate elementary, middle and high school students across the state.”

    Further, when informed about the true level of spending and the increase over the past five years, 81 percent of Kansans oppose tax increases for school spending. Only 11 percent were willing to pay increased taxes.

    The third editorial was written by Kent Beisner, who is interim president and CEO of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce.

    Beisner accurately diagnoses the cause of the problem: “The governor and his allies in the Legislature actually have the audacity to claim that recent tax cuts are to blame for the state’s budget deficit. But when the Legislature cut taxes earlier this decade, revenues to the state skyrocketed. The problem occurred when the state showed zero fiscal restraint and committed to spending more than it was taking in, erasing more than a $950 million budget surplus in just two years. Kansas most definitely does not have a tax-cutting or revenue problem.”

    The way to get out of this problem is to control spending so that taxes don’t have to be raised. A low-tax environment is the best tool Kansas can use to attract and keep business, Beisner added: “If the Legislature adopts what will amount to the largest tax increase in the state’s history, states more competitive than Kansas will no doubt take advantage of our resulting anti-growth climate and lure our employers and workers out of the state.”

  • Kansas senate leader to speak to Pachyderms

    On Friday April 9, Kansas Senator Derek Schmidt will address members and guests of the Wichita Pachyderm Club. Schmidt, of Independence, is the Majority Leader of the Kansas Senate and candidate for the Republican nomination for Kansas Attorney General.

    All are welcome to attend Pachyderm club meetings. The program costs $10, which includes a delicious buffet lunch including salad, soup, two main dishes, and ice tea and coffee. The meeting starts at noon, although it’s recommended to arrive fifteen minutes early to get your lunch before the program starts.

    The Wichita Petroleum Club is on the ninth floor of the Bank of America Building at 100 N. Broadway (north side of Douglas between Topeka and Broadway) in Wichita, Kansas (click for a map and directions). Park in the garage just across Broadway and use the sky walk to enter the Bank of America building. Bring your parking garage ticket to be stamped and your parking fee will be only $1.00. There is usually some metered and free street parking nearby.

  • Kansas citizens lack knowledge about school spending

    When talking about Kansas school spending, few Kansans have accurate information. Those with children in the public school system are even more likely to be uninformed regarding accurate figures. But when presented with accurate information about changes in school spending, few Kansans are willing to pay increased taxes to support more school spending.

    These are part of the findings of a poll released today by Kansas Reporter, a project of the Wichita-based Kansas Policy Institute.

    Not only did Kansans underestimate school spending levels, they did for the state portion of school funding, and again for the total of all funding sources — state, federal, and local.

    Many people greatly underestimated school funding. For all sources of funding on a per-student basis, 43% of poll respondents chose a number that is less than half the actual number.

    For a question asking about the change in Kansas school funding over the past five years, 64% thought that funding had declined. Only 6% knew that funding had increased by over 15% during that period. The five year time period is significant, as it was in 2005 that the Kansas Supreme Court ordered additional school spending as a result of the Montoy case.

    When asked about their willingness to pay higher taxes to support mores school funding, 51% said they would, if per-pupil funding was down from five years ago. But when asked whether they would pay more taxes in per-pupil funding had gone up by over 20%, only 11% said yes. According to the Kansas State Department of Education, total funding per pupil increased by 26% over this period.

    The survey was conducted by The Research Partnership, Inc., a Wichita-based market research firm. The complete results may be viewed at the Kansas Reporter website at K-12 Public Opinion Survey.

    Survey participants were asked if they would like to make comments regarding funding of Kansas public schools. There are 17 pages of these comments.

    Analysis

    The results of this Kansas poll are similar to recent nationwide results discovered by EducationNext, a project of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. That study is summarized in my post Americans uninformed about school spending, study finds.

    It’s not surprising that Kansans are misinformed about the level of school spending and its changes. As I’ve shown, even members of the Kansas House of Representatives and the Wichita School Board are sometimes uninformed — or misinformed.

    The school spending lobby in Kansas focuses on only one measure of school spending, base state aid per pupil. That number is approximately one-third of total school spending, and it has declined. As this poll shows, this special interest group needs to keep Kansas misinformed about the level and changes in school spending. When presented with accurate information about school spending, Kansans are not willing to pay higher taxes.