Kansas tax cuts take another hit
03/31/2014 9:36 AM
03/31/2014 9:52 AM
Another day, another swipe at the Kansas tax cuts.
This time it’s the
Kansas Economic Progress Council, in a news release Monday.
Citing a study by Gov.
Sam Brownback’sCouncil of Economic Advisors, the council says Kansas lagged behind the region and the nation in almost every important economic category during the first year of the tax reductions.
In 2013, Kansas grew more slowly in population, GDP, per capita personal income, non-farm employment, private wages, and private sector employment than did the six-state region (Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Iowa) or the entire country.
Kansas did beat those benchmarks in building permits. It also did relatively well in public sector employment, beating the national decline in that sector.
Last week the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, based in Washington, said the tax cuts were unfair and unwise.
The Kansas unemployment rate remains one of the lowest in the nation. That’s partly because jobs have been added, but partly because workers have retired or left the workforce.
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