KCUR: Analysis Questions Fairness Of Kansas Tax System
media mentionKansas already had the ninth-most regressive tax system in the nation, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
The tax increase signed last week by Gov. Sam Brownback to balance the budget and end the longest legislative session in state history will make the system less fair to low- and middle-income Kansans, said Matt Gardner, executive director of the nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C.
“The tax changes the Legislature has just enacted do very little to fix what was wrong with the last two rounds of tax changes,” Gardner said, referring to the income tax cuts and sales tax hikes passed in 2012 and 2013.
“It’s generally recognized that the (income tax) cuts that were passed a few years ago at Brownback’s behest didn’t pay for themselves,” Gardner said. “They were unaffordable and they were unfair.”