Tax & Spending

Latest Medicaid expansion plan riddled with red flags & a “scam.”0
- Tax & Spending
- October 28, 2019
The latest Medicaid expansion plan has too many red flags without even getting to the program itself. Like other states, Kansas is unlikely to have the federal government approve the partial expansion. Yet if approved, it risks the solvency of national Medicaid, encourages tobacco smuggling and worsens the state budget. Policymakers should heed these signs and
READ MORE
Income inequality is about choice not “fairness”0
- Tax & Spending
- October 16, 2019
Everyone from democratic presidential candidates to President Trump has some opinion on the concept of income inequality. In Kansas, Governor Kelly even commissioned a tax policy group with the stated intentions to combat inequality by distributing income in ways perceived more “fair”. However, data from the U.S. Census Bureau strongly suggests differences in lifestyle choices
READ MORE
Kansas deficit-spends into a billion dollar hole 0
- Tax & Spending
- October 10, 2019
The first Kansas legislative session has passed. To finance a record-setting budget, Governor Kelly has consented to both an income tax and sales tax increase. However, the latest information from the Kansas Division of the Budget says it’s not enough. The government is in a hole; for every dollar Kansas deficit spends, another dollar families
READ MORE

Kansas out-migration creates U-Haul shortages 0
- Tax & Spending
- October 2, 2019
There’s been no shortage of reports about Kansas losing people and businesses to other states. Since 2000, the state of Kansas has lost 6%, via domestic migration, of its population to the rest of the country, primarily to states with lower tax burdens. A new analysis shows that enough people are leaving Kansas that the
READ MORE
Gov. Kelly’s tax council on track to income redistribution 0
- Tax & Spending
- September 26, 2019
Governor Laura Kelly’s newly minted tax council laid out a roadmap to a new fiscal relationship between state government and Kansans. Unfortunately, the roadmap had little to do with lowering taxes as a means of economic growth. Instead, it hinted more at taking the hard-earned resources from working Kansans to promote “fairness.” Governor Kelly’s tax
READ MORE
The truth about county spending; there’s room to cut 0
- Tax & Spending
- September 23, 2019
With Kansas property taxes being one of the highest in the nation, the difference in county spending is worth close examination. Massive spending discrepancies exist in these local governments, even among counties with roughly the same population. Therefore it is no surprise county inefficiency is a key driver of excessively high county property taxes. KPI
READ MORE