Posts Tagged ‘Kansas’

From LJWorld.com:

And it could be argued Brown’s vote wasn’t needed because the tax bill was finally approved in the House on a 64-61 tally.

But Brown said he felt he had to vote for the tax increase because earlier he voted for the spending in the budget. It would have been wrong to vote for the spending and not for the tax bill, he said.

The tax vote will be front and center in the upcoming legislative elections. All 125 House seats are up for grabs.

Anti-tax groups promise to make an issue of the vote to increase the state sales tax from 5.3 cents per dollar to 6.3 cents for three years. In 2013, the tax is scheduled to decrease to 5.7 cents per dollar, with a portion of the revenue going to help fund the new state transportation plan.

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From Examiner.com:

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.

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From KWCH.com:

Kansas Senate GOP leaders say nearly all taxes are under consideration for increases as they try to solve the 2010 budget shortfall.

Speaking with the media Wednesday morning, Senate President Steve Morris of Hugoton says that no tax increase has been eliminated from consideration.

Legislators adjourned the first portion of the 2010 session early Wednesday without passing a budget for the coming fiscal year. The forecast is that the state will face a gap of some $364 million to balance the budget.

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From Kansascity.com:

A day after the U.S. House passed major health care reform legislation, the Kansas House debated a proposed state constitutional amendment designed to block it.

But it appears the measure could fall a few votes shy of passing when the House holds a final vote today.

The amendment would attempt to prohibit the federal government from requiring almost every Kansan to have health insurance. That mandate is one of the cornerstones of the reform bill passed Sunday by the U.S. House.

If passed by two-thirds majorities in the state House and Senate, the proposed change to the Kansas Constitution would go before voters in November.

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From LJWorld.com:

The Kansas House on Wednesday voted to cut the pay of elected and appointed state officials by 5 percent.

“This amendment sends the message that we are serious” about cutting spending, said Rep. Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, who introduced the proposal.

The measure was added to a budget bill that attempts to close the books on the current fiscal year and ratifies many of Gov. Mark Parkinson’s earlier announced budget cuts. Much bigger budget battles lie ahead.

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