Kansas cuts against red-state image, GOP rhetoric by raising sales tax to plug budget gap

Kan. sales tax hike cuts against state’s image

TOPEKA, Kan. — Come July, shoppers in Kansas will be handing over more money on every purchase because of a sales tax increase at odds with the state’s image as a conservative stronghold.

The Republican-led state Legislature approved the jump in sales tax from 5.3 percent to 6.3 percent that critics say makes Kansas more like California than its Midwestern neighbors.

Some observers were surprised that a tax increase got through in a state like Kansas, which has a vocal tea party movement.

But Democrats and moderate Republicans say they were compelled to raise taxes to protect public schools and social services.

Kansas is a reliable conservative in some ways, but GOP moderates are still a significant bloc in the Legislature. Education funding is where that group and Democrats come together most often.