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It's ALWAYS About Money

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

The question of what to do to fix a $400 million budget deficit projected for the state of Kansas next fiscal year is fraught with political peril for officeholders, especially if taxes are increased, which is likely.

It will take a significant number of Republican votes in the House and in the Senate to pass any tax measure to increase the state’s revenue. If legislators should decide to require taxes from 330,000 farmers and business owners who are now exempt from paying any income taxes, the result could be an electoral backlash and the loss of Republican majorities in the legislature and even the loss of the governorship.

The late William Avery was a Republican and a member of the powerful Rules Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected governor in 1964, when Kansas had major fiscal needs. At the time, the state had an income tax, but not a withholding system, and many Kansans were not paying state income taxes. Avery recommended, and the legislature passed, an income tax withholding system. The state sales tax was also increased.

The political backlash to Governor Avery’s policies for more revenue was stunning, as Democrat Bob Docking defeated Governor Avery by 76,000 votes in the 1966 election and made Avery a rare two-year governor. Governor Docking instituted a “tax lid” and he was conservative in spending. He won four straight two-year terms by talking about his “tax lid” and reminding Kansans that they “are entitled to some protection” from taxes.

Governor Docking spoke to one of my classes toward the end of his eight-year tenure in office. A student asked, “Governor, if you run again, will you still be talking about money?” Governor Docking’s response: “Young man, I have never known a time in my life when money was not the issue in a gubernatorial campaign in Kansas.”

Dr. Ken Ciboski is an associate professor emeritus of political science at Wichita State University.