Bill raising Kansas sales tax failing in state House, jeopardizing bipartisan $13.6B budget

Bill raising Kan. sales tax failing in state House

TOPEKA, Kan. — A proposal to raise Kansas’ sales tax is failing in the Kansas House, jeopardizing a bipartisan budget already approved by legislators.

The initial vote late Monday night was 62-59 against the bill, but the House had not closed its votes and was waiting for absent members to return. Results often change during voting, even on major issues.

The bill already has passed the Senate, and Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson supports it. He’d urged lawmakers to raise taxes to protect education funding and government programs.

The bill would boost the 5.3 percent sales tax to 6.3 percent on July 1.

The $314 million raised during the next fiscal year would balance a $13.6 billion state budget that also cleared the Legislature on Monday.