Kan. lawmakers’ return inspires rival rallies on raising taxes to close $510M budget gap

Kan. groups sponsor dueling rallies over taxes

TOPEKA, Kan. — Rival rallies for and against raising taxes drew hundreds of people to the Statehouse as legislators returned Wednesday to tackle Kansas’ budget problems.

About 600 disabled residents and advocates gathered on the south side of the Capitol to show their support for social services and their willingness to accept higher taxes to protect them. Some tied blue ribbons to a chain-link fence around a construction zone for the building’s renovation.

Hours later, about 300 people had their own rally against raising taxes, some of them members of the tea party movement energizing conservative Republicans. They were joined by GOP legislators who are resisting Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson’s push to raise taxes to prevent budget cuts.

Parkinson and the Republican-controlled Legislature must close a projected $510 million gap between anticipated revenues and existing spending commitments for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Parkinson has promised to veto any plan that includes deep spending cuts.

The Legislature returned Wednesday from its annual spring break for its 76th day in session, out of 90 scheduled. The Senate Ways and Means Committee revised a $13 billion-plus spending plan and was expected to tackle tax issues Thursday.

“They’re not listening to the people, and that’s why I’m here,” said Pam Rathbun, a Topeka resident who came to the anti-tax rally with her daughter. “They need to quit spending if they don’t have the money.”

Advocates for the disabled argue that legislators must protect the needy and vulnerable. InterHab Inc., a network of groups providing services, sponsored the rally for the disabled, ending a monthlong “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” relay across the state outside the Capitol.

“They will be made visible — because of you — for our legislators,” the group’s executive director, Tom Laing, told the crowd.

Parkinson has insisted a responsible budget requires raising taxes, and even some Republicans agree, particularly in the Senate. The spending plan fashioned by its Ways and Means Committee would require up to $501 million in tax increases.

Senators have floated a wide variety of ideas, including Parkinson’s proposals to increase sales and tobacco taxes. Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, is working on a proposal to raise $38 million by increasing income taxes for individuals and families earning more than $200,000 a year.

Advocates for the disabled are backing the idea of higher taxes because they’d like to restore cuts made in the past year to social services. They’d also like to start whittling down a waiting list for in-home services.

Harold Bettis of Hays said increasing taxes is better than additional cuts in services for the disabled. Bettis is a staff member at Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas, and he said some of the nine clients who traveled with him to Topeka have lost state funding for services this year.

“There’s a possibility that some people could end up on the street,” Bettis said during the InterHab event.

The rally against tax increases was organized by the state chapter of the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity. Some participants said the state should consider selling some of its assets to generate revenues before raising taxes.

The House Appropriations Committee has endorsed a budget plan that doesn’t include an increase in state taxes. It cuts aid to public schools by $86 million, but conservative GOP leaders believe schools can offset that loss by raising local property taxes or by tapping reserve funds. The plan also assumes the state will receive new federal money.

Many Republican legislators argue that increasing taxes will hurt working families and slow any economic recovery.

“We’re still in the business of looking at responsible options that would prevent a tax increase,” said House Speaker Mike O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican.

On the Net:

Kansas Legislature: www.kslegislature.org