Tax & Spending

Taxing Online Sales Isn’t A Kansas Windfall 0
- Tax & Spending
- November 2, 2018
In the heat of campaign season Kansans have heard it’s good to tax X and not Y, or we should spend taxpayer dollars on A and not B. Coincidentally under all of this debate comes the Wayfair Decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled that states have the authority to tax
READ MORE
October 2018 Report Shows Trend of Sales Tax Struggling 0
- Tax & Spending
- November 1, 2018
October 2018 taxes exceeded expectations for the fiscal year, tracking around 5 percentage points higher. Income tax is up and is the largest contributor to total tax collections being over estimates and last year. Sales tax is struggling again in October; the largest drag to total tax collection growth. You can see the tables below
READ MORE
Kansas Ranked 15th in Economic Freedom 0
- Tax & Spending
- October 30, 2018
Out of all 50 states, Kansas ranked 15th in economic freedom in 2016. The Economic Freedom of North America 2018, published by the Fraser Institute, measures individual states supportive of economic freedom. Kansas tied for 19th in all of North America. The most economically free state is Florida, while the least economically free state is
READ MORE

Gambling with Taxpayers’ Paychecks, Consensus Revenue Estimating Needs Reform 0
- Tax & Spending
- October 25, 2018
Many are unaware that Kansas state government participates in its own lottery. However, the difference between this type of government gamble and buying a MegaMillions ticket is that if the state makes the wrong bet, the taxpayer could end up living paycheck to paycheck. Referred to is the Consensus Revenue Estimating group or CRE, a
READ MORE
Kansas Freedom Index provides legislative transparency 0
- Tax & Spending
- October 22, 2018
Speaking at a gathering of legislators and policy experts from multiple states recently, I was asked why the Republican-dominated Kansas legislature raised taxes last year instead of making government more efficient. In response, I asked, “What’s a Republican?” We all had a good chuckle, but the sad truth is that party labels don’t mean much
READ MORE
Extravagant clothes and furniture are cheap. An education? Not so much.0
- Tax & Spending
- October 18, 2018
As the incomes grow, so do the prices of goods and services. The latest statistics on consumer prices showed inflation growing by 1.9 percent. Though growth in wages help Kansans’ purchasing power remain on top of the growth in prices, it won’t last forever. This begs the question, what is driving inflation, and can it
READ MORE