The Kansas Legislature passed an overhaul of the state’s income tax early Saturday, condensing the three current tax brackets into two. On Friday, state lawmakers approved another year's worth of funding for most state agencies and services including a 93% pay increase for themselves coming next year. Those stories and more inside.
A bipartisan group of rank-and-file lawmakers in Kansas scuttled a plan for cutting taxes Thursday, with Republicans defying GOP leaders and Democrats ignoring a personal appeal from the state's Democratic governor. It resulted from a deal between Gov. Laura Kelly and top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature, but the House decided on a voice vote to have House and Senate negotiators draft a different plan. Others, mostly Democrats, argued that it was weighted too heavily toward wealthy taxpayers because it would have dropped the state's top personal income tax rate to 5.5% from 5.7%.
After KS GOP leaders and Gov. Laure Kelly struck a deal on tax cuts, state lawmakers voted it down. Republicans said the cuts were too few and Democrats said it favored the wealthy.
A bipartisan group of rank-and-file lawmakers in Kansas scuttled a plan for cutting taxes Thursday, with Republicans defying GOP leaders and Democrats ignoring a personal appeal from Gov. Kelly.