In Kansas, is agriculture our “largest industry,” as Governor Laura Kelly says? (more…)
Tag: Laura Kelly
The Kansas Economy Under Laura Kelly
A recent letter in support of Kansas Governor Laura Kelly published in the Wichita Eagle makes claims that are not true.
Updated with new data. (more…)
The Kansas Economy Under Laura Kelly
A recent letter in support of Kansas Governor Laura Kelly published in the Wichita Eagle makes claims that are not true. (more…)
State of the State in Kansas, 2022
This week saw vying assessments of Kansas and different visions for the future. (more…)
In Kansas, explanations for tax collections may vary
Kansas officials have explanations for low tax collections, but don’t mention the same contributing factor when touting high collections.
In March, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, in response to the COVID-10 pandemic, delayed the due date for Kansans to file and pay income taxes from April 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020. 1 This change was bound to affect state tax collections for April, and it did.
When presenting tax collections for the month of April 2020, the Department of Revenue explained: “As predicted, the State of Kansas saw a decrease in total tax collections when compared to April of Fiscal Year 2019. These reductions are largely due to announced tax date extensions, which gave relief to Kansans while moving collections into the Fiscal Year 2021.” 2
Specifically, individual income tax revenue for April 2020 fell by $526 million (65.0 percent) from April 2019. 3 Corporate income tax collections also fell, but caused a much smaller effect. (Over the past five years, individual income tax collections have accounted for about 45.0 percent of total tax collections, while corporate income tax was 6.7 percent of the total.)
For Kansas state government, the fiscal year starts on July 1, and is named for the calendar year in which it ends. Fiscal year 2020, for example, began on July 1, 2019, and ended on June 30, 2020. So not only was a lot of collections shifted from one month to another, the shift also crossed the fiscal year boundary.
When July 2020 tax collections were released, the governor’s office commented:
The State of Kansas starts Fiscal Year 2021 by surpassing its total tax-only collections by $484.6 million compared to July of last fiscal year. …
The State collected $619.6 million in individual income taxes for the month; an increase of $395.3 million, or 176.3%, compared to the July of Fiscal Year 2020. However, these collections were $30.4 million, or 4.7%, less than the estimate for the month. Corporate income tax collections were $69.8 million; $5.2 million, or 6.9%, less than estimated but an increase of $54.6 million compared to July of FY 2020. [Kansas Governor’s office news release, August 4, 2020. Available at https://governor.kansas.gov/kansas-total-tax-collections-484-6-million-ahead-of-july-of-last-fiscal-year/.]
Note there is no mention of why the July income taxes were so much higher than last July. While I have presented only an excerpt of the news release, the remainder does not mention the shift of tax deadlines as the reason for the increase.
When announcing August 2020 tax collections, the governor released this, in part:
The state is $35.6 million, or 2.4%, ahead of projections for the year with $1.5 billion in total tax collections for the fiscal year. When comparing total tax collections over the same timeframe to the previous fiscal year, the State of Kansas is $531.0 million, or 53.5%, ahead of Fiscal Year 2020. [Kansas Governor’s office news release, September 1, 2020. Available at https://governor.kansas.gov/state-of-kansas-tax-collections-40-2-million-above-estimates/.]
Here, the press release touts large revenue growth for the fiscal year. But only two months of the fiscal year have passed, and for one of these, collections benefitted mightily from the shift of tax deadlines. The news release did not mention this as a factor in the fiscal year’s increase in tax collections compared to the previous year.
It is not the case that the governor and state officials are not aware of the effect of shifting tax deadlines on revenue. The governor mentioned the shift in April to explain low collections.
But there was no mention of the same factor when celebrating high collections.
I asked the governor’s office and the Department of Revenue to explain this, but there was no response. Michael Austin, who is Director of the Sandlian Center for Entrepreneurial Government at Kansas Policy Institute, said: “Unfortunately it’s another example the administration is more focused on hiding bad press, than to simply present Kansans with facts and reasonable analysis. With July and August income tax revenues offsetting last year’s decline, it’s clear the tax extension moved revenues from April to July and August.”
The example Austin referred to concerns a chart of COVID-19 data that was presented in an unorthodox manner that bolstered the administration’s positions.
For more on Kansas tax collections, see Kansas tax revenue, August 2020 and my interactive visualization of Kansas tax revenue.
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Notes- Executive order 20-13. Available at https://governor.kansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/EO-20-13-Executed.pdf. ↩
- Kansas Department of Revenue news release, May 1, 2020. Available at https://www.ksrevenue.org/press/2020/pr05012020.html. ↩
- Weeks, Bob. Kansas tax revenue experiences effects of pandemic response. Available at https://wichitaliberty.org/kansas-government/kansas-tax-revenue-experiences-effects-of-pandemic-response/. ↩
Regulation reform could jump-start Kansas economy after COVID
Regulation reform could jump-start Kansas economy after COVID
By Michael Austin.
The COVID-19 outbreak has not only posed a severe public health risk, but actions to combat it now risk a global economic collapse. With nearly half of all Kansas hourly jobs gone, the Kansas Department of Labor is overwhelmed processing unemployment claims. Roughly 40 percent of Kansas small businesses are shuttered, with more than half of them saying they are weeks away from closing permanently.
Kansans need a pathway through this economic disaster. Will we come back stronger than ever before, or fall deep into an economic depression? To paraphrase our state maxim, we can reach for the stars and find better days ahead if we follow the common-sense path.
First, Kansas needs occupational licensing reform, with the most excellent examples of success from Gov. Laura Kelly herself. In March, Kelly waived some licensure requirements, making it easier for physicians to work in Kansas. This fantastic move needs expansion, not a reversal once the virus passes.
From nurses to HVAC technicians, all licensed professionals should be able to work as soon as they cross the border. Good licensing reform protects the public, encourages movement into Kansas, and provides Kansas young adults with a flexible career path.
Kansas needs regulatory reform. Due to the statewide stay-at-home order and voluntary action, countless Kansas businesses shut their doors to “flatten the curve.” Pulling back regulations can prime them to reopen them quickly.
The Kansas Department of Commerce could create a one-stop-shop for all state applications and fees. KDHE and local agencies can fast track the reopening of restaurants with a history of reliable inspections. It takes four and a half weeks to read Kansas state regulations one time (assuming reading 40 hours a week). Allowing businesses to open doors quickly, when public safety allows, gives Kansans precisely what they need to get back to work.
Our leaders must also realize that we need a financially solvent government that encourages the Kansas spirit more than ever. That’s not an invitation for more stimulus, and issuing more debt to Kansans. Such methods didn’t work in 1932 and 2008, and it won’t work today. Kansas policymakers should work to simultaneously grow the rainy day fund while lowering the tax burden on Kansans. That means enforcing performance-based budgeting, matching tax dollars to specific improvements in Kansans’ lives. It also means passing the tax windfall, which rewards Kansas for their donations and gifts during the public health crisis. Finally, restore honesty in property taxation, so Kansans don’t lose their homes when times already are trying.
The COVID-19 outbreak is not a crisis to be seized upon. Any Kansans policy must focus on “flattening the curve” today. Tomorrow, however, we’ll need different guidelines to jump-start the recovery.
Kansas — and America — will recover. The next decade can be better than the last if we give families and businesses the flexibility to grow stronger. Whether the difficulties last for six weeks or six months, our nation’s founders gave us the blueprint to make striving for the stars possible.
Michael Austin is director of the Sandlian Center for Entrepreneurial Government at the Kansas Policy Institute.
WichitaLiberty.TV: Bob and Karl look at election results
In this episode of WichitaLiberty.TV: Bob and Karl look at election results nationally, in Kansas, and in Sedgwick County. View below, or click here to view at YouTube. Episode 217, broadcast November 11, 2018.
Shownotes
- Election results at Politico. This is one of the best sites for analysis of election results.
- Election results for Sedgwick County.
- Election resuts from Kansas Secretary of State.
