Kan. Senate panel to review proposed tax hikes as lawmakers struggle with state’s budget woes

Kansas Senate committee to take up tax issues

TOPEKA, Kan. — Amid conflicting signals from voters about how best to deal with the state’s budget woes, Kansas senators were floating proposals Thursday for raising taxes on items such as on groceries, cigarettes, liquor and perhaps even wealthy families’ earnings.

While the Senate Ways and Means Committee members were mulling over tax increases, lawmakers weren’t sure how much progress would be made toward settling on a mix. Legislators could also make tweaks around the edges of the budget and avoid confronting tax issues for another day.

The committee needs to raise about $500 million in new revenue for the $13 billion-plus budget it has proposed for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Gov. Mark Parkinson, his fellow Democrats and some Republican senators view the committee’s proposed budget as a status quo spending blueprint, and it holds aid to public schools flat. They argue that after multiple rounds of spending cuts last year, the state can’t make further reductions without serious damage to schools, social services and other programs.

They’re also under pressure from educators and social services groups to increase taxes and restore cuts made in the past year. About 150 people participated in a march Thursday by the Statehouse sponsored by the Big Tent Coalition, an alliance of advocates for the poor, elderly and disabled.

“You can’t just cut, cut, cut,” said Cathy Calasanti-Walker, a disability rights activist from Parsons. “It’s not the moral thing to do. It also doesn’t make economic sense.”

It was a second day of demonstrations by groups wanting to increase taxes to bolster the budget. On Wednesday, about 600 disabled people and their advocates rallied to show support for social services.

But opponents of raising taxes have been active, too. Later Wednesday, 300 people gathered for a rally sponsored by the state chapter of the anti-tax group Americans for Prosperity. They said they were worried that legislators will bow to pressure to find new revenue.

“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.”

Parkinson has proposed raising sales and tobacco taxes, and the Senate committee is considering those ideas. Senators also have floated proposals to increase liquor taxes and impose a penny-per-teaspoon tax on the sugar in soda and other bottled and canned drinks.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, said he’s working on a proposal to raise income taxes on individuals and families earning more than $200,000 a year. His plan is to raise their income taxes by nearly 11 percent and reduce what less wealthy people pay, with a net gain to the state of $38 million each year.

But the prospects of higher taxes has roused members of the tea party movement, which in turn has energized conservative Republicans. Many GOP legislators argue that increasing taxes will hurt working families and slow any economic recovery.

The House Appropriations Committee has endorsed a budget that wouldn’t increase taxes. It cuts aid to 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.

“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