government spending Archives - Kansas Policy Institute

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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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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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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