We know a lot of current parents of school children and even teachers were not tuned in to the impacts of the Brownback tax experiment or the role Ty Masterson played in it. Please read this article and understand what is at stake in this year’s Governor election. While Ty Masterson was inflicting devastating cuts to our schools, Cindy Holscher was working on the other side as an advocate and legislator.

“Over the next four years, Masterson would use his position to keep the failing tax experiment on life support. In the face of plummeting state revenues, he and his committee signed off on a sea of red ink… To save the experiment, Masterson and his committee snatched revenues from other funds. For example, in a series of sweeps from the highway fund in 2012 through 2017, $1.9 billion was diverted from highway improvements to plug the hole left by sinking income tax collections….State tax-supported debt ballooned to an historic high of $4.5 billion, and state credit was downgraded in the process.

“In the 2016 legislative session, Masterson and his committee staged a final act of desperation. With state balances underwater, they enacted a budget in which spending exceeded revenues by $100 million in an attempt to force the governor to cut core services…In fact, the deficit would balloon to $350 million.

“Kansas voters had their fill of Masterson’s financial shenanigans and mismanagement. In 2016, they elected a majority of centrist lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, who campaigned to abandon the tax experiment. Forty contested legislative seats went against Brownback, Masterson and their allies.

“In 2017, the revamped Senate majority dumped Masterson and most of his collaborators from the Ways and Means Committee and began the work of repairing state finances. To the very end, Masterson pleaded with colleagues to save the experiment, but his credibility had evaporated.

“Lawmakers voted to abandon Brownback’s experiment and then voted to override the governor’s veto. In the Senate, 18 Republicans [but not Masterson] and nine Democrats voted to override Brownback’s veto and abandon the disastrous tax experiment…Ty Masterson is now running for governor of Kansas pledging to cut taxes once again. Kansas voters should become informed of his experience in doing so.”

Photo from Kansas Reflector

Originally posted on facebook September 15 2026