Kansas Senate’s GOP leaders don’t expect tax plan to pass

TOPEKA – Republican leaders aren’t expecting the GOP-dominated Kansas Senate to pass any plan ahead of a debate on proposals for raising taxes to fix a budget shortfall.

The Senate was taking up a bill Thursday to increase the state’s sales, cigarette and gasoline taxes to help fill a projected $406 million deficit for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The bill also would suspend an income tax exemption for more than 330,000 business owners and farmers for two years.

The exemption was enacted in 2012 and would be replaced with a less lucrative tax credit against businesses’ payrolls.

The proposal backtracks on one of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s key economic policies.

Republican leaders said before the debate that they doubted any version of the bill would pass.

This story was originally published May 21, 2015 at 11:11 AM with the headline "Kansas Senate’s GOP leaders don’t expect tax plan to pass."