Tax & Spending

Kansas economy ranks 49th as government grows 0
- Tax & Spending
- November 26, 2019
Within the last year, Kansas has set a record budget, financed it with record tax hikes, and vowed to increase spending to even higher levels. Some think such a policy encourages economic success. However, the latest economic snapshots reveal the opposite; that ballooning government is crowding out private sector growth. The adjacent table summarizes the Bureau
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Will thousands more Kansans fall into the 2020 windfall veto trap?0
- Tax & Spending
- November 18, 2019
Last year’s windfall veto meant a $65 million tax increase on 90,000 Kansas returns in 2019. However, data shows more Kansans will walk into the same tax trap by 2020. If unresolved, Gov. Kelly’s windfall veto could force a new 5,300 tax filers to pay higher state taxes every year. Let’s reiterate that – every year,
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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
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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
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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
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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
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