Kansas lawmakers still stymied on tax and budget plans

For the second night in a row, the Kansas Senate on Monday voted down a plan to fill the state’s $400 million budget hole.

Republicans, who hold 32 of the 40 seats in the Senate, continued to struggle in search of a consensus on tax policy during a marathon legislative session that stretching beyond 102 days.

Now a Senate bill meant to fix the budget would actually increase the state’s spending deficit.

Senators began debate Monday evening on a tax bill to close the state’s budget hole after failing to make headway the night before.

A plan to freeze income tax rates at current levels and raise the sales tax to 6.5 percent from the existing 6.15 percent level fell in a 30-8 vote.

That proposal would would have dropped the sales tax on food to 6 percent in January. Kansas is one of only a few states that tax food at the same rate as other purchases. It would also have eliminated a food sales tax rebate that benefits low-income Kansans. The sales tax change would have brought in about $150 million and the elimination of the rebate about $15 million.

The plan also included a proposal to eliminate income taxes for low-wage workers — and that passed.

The broader budget-fixing proposal — the sales tax hike combined with a break for low-income households — was similar to one offered by Gov. Sam Brownback on Saturday.

Senate President Susan Wagle, a Wichita Republican and a cancer survivor, compared the tax increase to her chemotherapy. She argued to fellow Republicans that it would hurt, but that action was necessary.

“Why don’t we just swallow our medicine tonight? It’s day 102,” she said. “We’re close. But we’re not going to reach the end if we reject this again.”

Yet Sen. Jeff Melcher, a Leawood Republican, represented the lack of consensus among the overwhelming Republican majority when said that he didn’t run for office telling voters he would raise their taxes.

“I don’t think this is a medicinal cocktail,” he said, using Wagle’s analogy. “This is an overdose.”

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, used a procedural motion forcing separate votes on the sales tax increase and the income tax reduction.

Sen. Les Donovan, a Wichita Republican, urged his fellow Republicans not to support the income tax cut without supporting the other portions of the bill. But they only backed the tax cut, by a 33-4 vote.

“We just walked into an open door, and if you hear a click behind you, we’re locked in,” he said. “We fell for that one, didn’t we?” he said, turning to reporters in the chamber. “An absolute setup. … I warned them.”

This story was originally published June 1, 2015 at 9:07 PM with the headline "Kansas lawmakers still stymied on tax and budget plans."