Stop the ugly sneak attacks in the Kansas Legislature

Bleary-eyed Kansas senators worked over the weekend into Monday morning, ostensibly trying to solve the state’s deepening fiscal crisis. But don’t pat them on the back for their work ethic.

Instead, what Kansans are witnessing is a perfect example of how lawmakers rush to debate issues without taking into account the costs and damage their actions might cause as the GOP-controlled Legislature struggles to close a $400 million budget gap.

Without much warning, Sen. Steve Abrams of Arkansas City on Sunday asked colleagues to approve a bill to end sales tax exemptions the state has long given for services or property bought by schools, nonprofit hospitals and other organizations. A fact sheet showed this could generate $630 million or more for the state — in effect, an out-of-the-blue tax increase on those groups.

Abrams and others — including Jeff Melcher of Leawood and Greg Smith of Overland Park — said the Senate needed to act right away. Backers of the action ranted that some schools and hospitals had abused the exemptions.

To his credit, Sen. Les Donovan of Wichita said the issue was far too important to slam through, especially without hearing from groups affected by the proposed change. It went down to defeat.

The state may have good reasons to eliminate some exemptions as a matter of fairness and to generate revenue to provide public services. The issue deserves thoughtful discussion.

But ugly sneak attacks by lawmakers, similar to what happened Sunday night, should not be repeated as budget discussions drone on this week in Kansas.

This story was originally published June 1, 2015 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Stop the ugly sneak attacks in the Kansas Legislature."