Tax & Spending Archives - Kansas Policy Institute

Views of individual Kansans clear in new poll 0
- Research, Tax & Spending
- January 7, 2020
The Kansas legislature will convene next week with as much an eye to their upcoming elections as to the policy work they’ll tackle. Certainly, some policy-making will be done, but the overriding concern will be the electoral calendar. The views of individual Kansans who are most-concerned about their family and local opportunities can be lost,
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County economies among the slowest in the nation 0
- Tax & Spending
- December 30, 2019
Like students receiving their semester report cards, counties in the U.S. recently received a similar assessment on their economic performance. Unfortunately, rather than being near the top, eight out of the ten most populous Kansas counties are among the slowest growing economies in the nation. In reviewing official estimates, it seems counties with higher rates
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$Gov. Kelly promotes flawed “Three-Legged Stool” tax policy$
Gov. Kelly promotes flawed “Three-Legged Stool” tax policy 0
- Tax & Spending
- December 10, 2019
In their report to the 2020 Kansas legislature, Governor Kelly’s Council on Tax Reform promoted state tax policy with co-equal income, sales, and property taxes, a “three-legged stool.” However, upon further review, the flawed tax policy creates unstable budgets and encourages the government to decide who benefits from the wealth of others. Governor Kelly wished
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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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