Kansas state government Archives - Page 151 of 160 Voice For Liberty

May

Floods and whirlwind (of spending in Kansas)

Floods and Whirlwind By Karl Peterjohn, Executive Director Kansas Taxpayers Network Kansans are focused upon the floods as well as the results of the tornados that tore up this state in early May. The wrath of Mother Nature is upon us just as the Kansas legislature has left its own flood of spending and whirlwind of legislative changes on this state. The legislature’s fiscal wrath might be overlooked by Kansans focused upon their flooded basements or providing help and assistance to the devastated folks who survived in Greensburg. Kansans ignoring the legislature do so at their peril. Kansans will soon…

Apr

By Bob Weeks

It’s not yours to cut

An article in the April 22, 2007 Wichita Eagle by Dion Lefler states: "All together, those [tax] cuts will cost the state $570 million in lost revenue in the next five years, according to the consensus report estimates." A statement like this reveals a faulty line of thinking: that the government has a legitimate claim on a large part of our incomes and wealth. Then if, somehow, the government is persuaded to “give” any of that claim back to us, this gift has to be paid for. It's the people who “give” tax money to the government, not the government…

Apr

By Bob Weeks

Regents spending plan and Wichita State University’s spending criticized

Regents Spending Plan and Wichita State University’s Spending Criticized From Kansas Taxpayers Network “Wichita State University’s part and the rest of the “crumbling classrooms” Regents Institution’s spending plan raises troubling fiscal problems now,” warned Kansas Taxpayers Network’s Executive Director Karl Peterjohn. “The initial list of proposed expenditures from the Board of Regents included substantial amounts of dubious spending proposals. Statewide over $1.4 million in spending on six presidential mansions was recommended in the November 29, 2006 spending plan. The total cost at all six universities is $727 million. At that time, over $4 million was proposed for Cessna Stadium alone.…

Apr

By Bob Weeks

United Van Lines Shows Kansas Decline

United Van Lines Shows Kansas Decline by Isaac Ferguson Kansans are voting with their feet and the result is that population growth is much faster in more competitive and taxpayer freindly parts of the country. According to the annual migration study conducted by United Van Lines, one of the nation’s largest moving companies, the Midwest and Kansas especially, are losing people at a greater rate than the rest of the nation. Of the people United Van Lines moved in Kansas from January to December of 2005, 52.6% were leaving Kansas while only 47.4% were entering. According to this study, Kansas…

Apr

By Bob Weeks

The stink in the Kansas Legislature and statehouse

A friend sent this short commentary along with analysis by former Kansas Senator Kay O'Connor of Olathe. As I have written, in a free society people should be able to gamble. Relying on gambling for economic development of our state, however, is a losing proposition. With the problems gambling brings -- and even casino supporters concede there are problems -- and the small amount of revenue it may actually generate, we may someday wish that the normal legislative process had been followed. A former legislator Kay O'Connor describes the gambling bill's legislative progress. Kansas could soon be the first state…

Mar

By Bob Weeks

Are you a second class Kansan?

Are You a Second Class Kansan? By Karl Peterjohn, Kansas Taxpayers Network The Kansas legislature is in the process of deciding how wide the separation will be between various classes of Kansans. State Senator Peggy Palmer, R-Augusta, and State Representative Judy Morrison, R-Shawnee, introduced bills in their separate legislative houses that would have exempted social security payments from the Kansas personal income tax this year. Both bills attracted numerous co-sponsors for this tax cut proposal with a $19 million price tag. The intent was to eliminate the disparate treatment that exists in Kansas income tax law that exempts government pensions…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Higher Education Wants A Spending Spree

Higher Education Wants A Spending Spree By Karl Peterjohn, Kansas Taxpayers Network Soaring spending has not been spent evenly. The six Regents universities in Kansas initially asked for $727 million to fix deeply neglected buildings at these campuses. Governor Sebelius has performed a valuable service by responding that the Kansas Turnpike have higher tolls to fund this spending. The value in Governor Sebelius' proposal is not based upon its merits. Higher education and the Kansas turnpike are both state entities but are related about as much as lightning and lightning bugs. Since the Kansas turnpike is funded with tolls, so…

Feb

By Bob Weeks

Kansas lags fiscally again

Kansas Lags Fiscally Again By Karl Peterjohn, Kansas Taxpayers Network Kansas is once again falling behind. The growth in state tax receipts has allowed the legislature to increase state spending. This revenue growth could also provide some much needed tax relief to try and make this state’s fiscal climate more competitive. This is an urgent priority that is coming home to folks in Topeka as a recent major employer in Topeka, Payless ShoeSource Inc., announced a distribution center will close and that will cost that community as many as 550 jobs. Businesses restructure all the time but losing all of…

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Spending and the true cost of government

(WICHITA) – While lawmakers face a challenge to increase spending from many directions, they need to resist some of these pressures in order to control excessive government spending. In a policy brief released by the Flint Hills Center, “The Virtue of a Self-Imposed Spending Cap for the Kansas Legislature,” Jonathan Williams documents the growth of state spending in Kansas. This year the combined spending of state and local government in Kansas will exceed $15 billion, up from $ 4 billion in 1957. Even when adjusted for inflation, that represents a 279 percent increase in that period. Accordingly, in that same…

Jan

By Bob Weeks

Record setting spending in Topeka

Record Setting Spending in Topeka By Karl Peterjohn, Kansas Taxpayers Network Now that the inconvenience of the 2006 election is behind us, the statehouse is getting back to what it does best: spending your tax dollars. Governor Sebelius’ latest state budget will set two new records for increased spending. Is this news to you? State spending is growing at close to double digit rates so these fiscal milestones are being passed with a rapidity that would stun the frugal founders of this state. The next state General Fund budget is proposed to be $6.015 billion. That is a 7.7 percent…