Colyer weighs in on federal tax cuts, Democrats’ plan to slow Brownback confirmation

Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer is still next in line to become governor, even though he might have to wait a little bit longer.

McClatchy reported earlier this week that Democrats in the U.S. Senate will delay the confirmation of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback as President Donald Trump’s ambassador for international religious freedom because of the governor’s record on gay rights.

Colyer weighed in on that move Friday.

“The Senate’s going to do what it’s going to do with that,” he said. “I think they will be responding very nicely to Gov. Brownback as they go and they examine this here. We’ll let the process play out here. But I’m pretty confident that this will continue and it’ll get finished.”

Colyer also spoke about another issue in Washington: tax cuts.

Congressional Republicans’ effort to cut taxes has drawn comparisons to Brownback’s earlier tax cuts in Kansas. That move, which trimmed income tax rates and created a tax exemption for certain business owners, was essentially rolled back by the GOP-dominated Kansas Legislature in June.

“What’s going on in D.C. is entirely different than where Kansas, what Kansas is doing and dealing with overall,” Colyer said. “So Washington, we do need some tax cuts. We need money in peoples’ pockets. And we need to get that done soon. Taxes haven’t been reformed on the federal level in 35 years, and it’s about time we do it.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2017 at 4:32 PM with the headline "Colyer weighs in on federal tax cuts, Democrats’ plan to slow Brownback confirmation."