government spending Archives - Kansas Policy Institute

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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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
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Budget deficit remains as recession fears grow 0
- Tax & Spending
- August 26, 2019
In mid-August, a national warning sign flashed red, sparking stock market turmoil and possibly suggesting the next U.S. recession is roughly two years away. If true, then Kansas’s government is woefully unprepared given its $1 billion-plus deficit. Headlines reported an inverted yield curve**, where the interest rates (yield) on short-term bonds are higher than interest rates paid
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Three Signs of Kansas Government Growth 0
- Tax & Spending
- July 11, 2019
How much government is too much for Kansas? Three straight years of income tax increases are sending the state budget to another historical high. However, three signs suggest that bigger is not always better. Three signs; jobs, personal income, and purchases, that link government growth to a stagnant Kansas economy. The legislature approved, and the
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“Hope” Leads to Work & Opportunity 0
- Tax & Spending
- June 24, 2019
Taxpayer-funded programs that combat poverty should operate in ways that create a pathway to economic independence. As such, welfare reforms, like the Hope Act and other efforts, truly benefitted low-income Kansans by encouraging work and lowering poverty rates. Increasing handouts, in contrast, trapped more Kansans into government dependency, stifling their potential success and self-reliance. Kansas
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