
June 18, 2013
(Original Post) By Pat GarofaloJune 13, 2013 Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has presided over one of the most rightward lurches of any state in the nation, on issues such as health care, abortion and education. But the crown jewel of his administration has been a package of cuts to Kansas’ income tax – the […]
May 30, 2013
(Original Post) 5/29/2013 With conservative super-majorities in place on both sides of the Kansas Statehouse, Gov. Sam Brownback had to have been expecting a relatively cooperative and short session this year. Rubberstamp a few more tax cuts for those who didn’t need them, a few more reductions in services for those who do need […]
May 23, 2013
(Original Post) Posted by Scott Rothschild May 23, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. Topeka — Taxes will increase for low-wage Kansans and decrease for those with higher incomes under plans being considered by Republican state legislators, according to a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy looked at the various proposals before […]
May 17, 2013
A proposal to eliminate Virginia’s top individual income tax rate would overwhelmingly benefit the state’s wealthiest residents, who already spend far less of their household budgets on state and local taxes than any other group. Nearly 40 percent of Virginia taxpayers would see no reduction in their taxes under the plan and most of the […]
May 10, 2013
Posted: May 09, 2013 6:25 PM EDT Updated: May 09, 2013 11:10 PM EDT By Jon Paepcke BIRMINGHAM, AL – With every bar code swipe, the numbers add up in Alabama. Did you know that for every dollar you spend on groceries four cents goes to the state? It’s true. Did you also know we […]
May 6, 2013
(Original Post) published Sunday, May 5th, 2013 by Tim Omarzu A group of Republican lawmakers in Atlanta wants to do away with Georgia’s 6 percent income tax and replace it — mainly by increasing taxes on sales and services. State Rep. Tom Kirby, R-Loganville, set the stage for what could be a sweeping change to […]
May 6, 2013
(Original Post) Jeff Saginor May 6, 2013 The Marketplace Fairness Act, which would finally require online retailers to charge sales tax, is hitting the Senate floor this week. In 1984, CompuServe launched the first “Electronic Mall,” a Pleistocene-era Amazon with which owners of a TRS-80 personal computer could browse and buy goods over the Internet. […]
April 24, 2013
(Original Post) By Nanette Byrnes Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:19pm EDT (Reuters) – From Louisiana to Ohio, Massachusetts and Nebraska, bold proposals to upend state tax laws are losing momentum in the face of political squabbles and special interest opposition. Just a short time ago, it looked as if several state leaders would show gridlocked […]
April 22, 2013
Written by Dan Carpenter Do Hoosiers even want Gov. Mike Pence’s income tax cut? And should they, considering that Indiana has one of the most regressive, elitist, tax systems in the nation, and what’s on the table will only make matters worse? The first question was put to Pence in a recent meeting with The […]
April 22, 2013
(Original Post) By Brad CooperKansas City Star Published Sunday, April 21, 2013, at 6:54 a.m. Eliminating or slashing the income tax is a romantic idea for many politicians. Getting there is much less dreamy. Just ask Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and a handful of other GOP governors who want income tax cuts but propose […]
April 19, 2013
State revenues plummet in recessions, just when states can least afford the loss. Some proposals to address this flaw in state tax systems would change the systems’ structure — for instance, by replacing state personal income taxes with sales taxes — but wouldn’t solve the problem and would exacerbate others in state tax systems. States […]
April 15, 2013
April 12 By BRAD COOPER The Kansas City Star TOPEKA — This could be, for better or worse, the year of the poor in Kansas. The dominant powers in the Statehouse — Republicans controlling the legislative and executive branches — regularly press bold measures calculated to jet-charge the economy and put more people to work. […]
April 2, 2013 • By Meg Wiehe
Earlier this year, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback proposed another round of personal income tax cuts (on top of those he signed into law last year).1 The House and Senate each responded with their own tax cut plans and are expected to reconcile their differences this week. To date, much attention has been given to the major difference between the House and Senate plans -- the Senate bill includes permanently preserving a sales tax rate hike that was set to expire this summer while the House plan would allow the rate hike to expire. However, the long term impact of either…
March 12, 2013
Senate Gives Initial Approval to Extreme Tax Cut Bill Which Would Devastate Missouri Services, Infrastructure, and the State’s Economy An extreme tax cut proposal, perfected this week by the Missouri Senate would slash Missouri’s general revenue budget by nearly $1 billion when fully implemented, resulting in devastating cuts to services throughout the state. Further, the […]
March 6, 2013
(Original Post) Sunday, March 3, 2013 By SCOTT ROTHSCHILD, The Lawrence Journal-World The effort by Gov. Sam Brownback and several other Republican governors to eliminate personal state income taxes is based on an economic theory that is “extremely flawed,” a new report by a non-partisan research group says. Brownback has depended on the claims of […]
March 1, 2013
(Original Post) Meteor Blades for Daily Kos Economics Across the South and Midwest—in Georgia, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Louisiana, Indiana, Kansas and elsewhere—Republican-dominated states seek to eliminate income taxes and replace part of them with regressive sales taxes. Thus would be the tax burden be shifted to people in the lower earning tiers of the economy […]
March 1, 2013
(Original Post) By Bonnie Kavoussi Posted: 02/28/2013 5:47 pm EST | Updated: 03/01/2013 12:21 am EST Small-government advocates often claim that high taxes hold the economy back. But a new report finds that states without a personal income tax have experienced slower economic growth than states with high income tax rates. The report, from the […]
February 27, 2013
(Original Post) Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2013 by Chris Lewis Arthur Laffer might just be the Doctor Nick of taxes—all that’s missing is a degree from Upstairs Economics College. Earlier this month, we reported on the “Brownback Experiment,” a wild plan by Gov. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) to cut the state’s income tax. Brownback said he […]
February 21, 2013
By Jim Morrill [email protected] Posted: Saturday, Feb. 02, 2013 RALEIGH Republican state Sen. Bob Rucho is screening his PowerPoint to yet another audience, watching slide after slide build a case for changing North Carolina tax law. All the charts and numbers add up to one conclusion: A tax system built during the Great Depression doesn’t […]
February 21, 2013
(Original Post) By Star-Ledger Editorial Boardon February 15, 2013 at 6:30 AM, updated February 15, 2013 at 10:58 AM New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (left) with then-Ohio gubernatorial candidate John Kasich as they sit at a lunch counter during a live webcast Q&A session at a campaign stop for Kasich outside Cincinnati. Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger […]
February 4, 2013
BY WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer Sunday, February 03, 2013 2/3/2013 6:10:41 AM In the debate over state personal income tax rates this year, look for Gov. Mary Fallin to adopt the KISS method – Keep It Simple, Senator. Last year, her proposal seemed like it had more moving parts than a whirligig factory. She […]
February 1, 2013 • By Meg Wiehe
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback proposed, for the second straight year, major tax changes during his State of the State speech. These new changes include lowering the tax rates to 1.9 and 3.5 percent, eliminating itemized deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes paid, and raising the sales tax.
February 1, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013 Kansas Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan says he doesn’t put much stock in a recent study from a non-partisan research group suggesting the state’s tax system is unfair to the poor. Jordan said Thursday the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy praises states that rely heavily on personal income taxes for […]
February 1, 2013
February 1 By MATTHEW GARDNER After a presidential election campaign during which tax fairness debates figured prominently, the battle has now emphatically shifted to the states. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, for instance, recently announced his support for a “flatter, fairer” tax code, and lawmakers in more than a dozen other states are poised to grapple […]
February 1, 2013
(Original Post) January 31, 2013By: James Jordan A study by a non-partisan research group says the poorest Kansans pay a higher percentage of their income in state and local taxes than do the state’s wealthiest residents. The study, released Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, shows a national trend in this direction. The Institute on Taxation and […]