“When the clock struck midnight Wednesday, Kansas House members left without locking in votes on a tax plan meant to prevent massive budget cuts to education and other state services. “’This is the last train out of here,’ House Speaker Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell, had told House Republicans earlier, before debate on a tax plan designed to fix the state’s $400 million budget deficit. ‘There’s not another bill coming. This is it.’ “But not all of his party was ready to board that train. “The main tax increase bill, HB 2109, failed to gain enough support when lawmakers first...
Read more
Leave a Comment Blog
Koch LLCs qualifying for small business tax exemption
Food for thought on some of the “small businesses” benefitting from the tax exemption for LLCs some of our legislators are working so hard to maintain even if it means we can’t adequately fund our schools. Sharing from Erica Droste Massman: QUESTION: Who in Kansas would be interested in no state income tax for LLC and LP business formations? Mmmmmmm? ANSWER: Koch Industries, Inc. – Company Holdings and Investments Koch Industries Inc.’s Companies: Flint Hills Resources, LP Flint Hills Resources operates refineries in Alaska (North Pole), Minnesota (Rosemont) and Texas (Corpus Christi), which together process more than 800...
Read more
Leave a Comment History lesson on how we got here
Here’s a little history on how we got here. “[Steve] Anderson would reliably carry the water for a state budget that envisioned no income taxes on hundreds of thousands of companies across the state. While working at AFP, Anderson implored the legislature to cut income taxes, reduce Medicaid spending and adopt a voucher program for private schools… “Anderson is no longer Brownback’s budget director. In addition to not caring for what stodgy college professors have to say, Anderson wasn’t much of a details kind of guy. He resigned in 2013, not long after he took responsibility for a...
Read more
Leave a Comment Kansas balancing budget on backs of children
“‘Kansas has always been a state known for its strong public schools,’ [David A.] Smith said. ‘Now, in publications across the country, Kansas is being identified as a prime example of how NOT to budget. While the rest of the country is clear that the reason for the current deficit is the irresponsible tax cuts passed in 2012, the Kansas Legislature continues to talk about balancing the state budget on the backs of its most vulnerable citizens, its children.’” Read more here: http://kckps.org/index.php/news-releases/612-state-trying-to-balance-budget-on-backs-of-children...
Read more
Leave a Comment