The Kansas Senate rejected another tax proposal last night, wrapping up day 102 of the legislative session without a tax plan in place. The proposal would have raised sales and cigarette taxes, but also eliminated income taxes for some low-income Kansans. As KPR’s Stephen Koranda reports, it was patterned after a proposal introduce by Gov. Sam Brownback.
Republican Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle made a hard sell to the chamber. Wagle said it was a cocktail of ideas and lawmakers needed to take their medicine and advance it because it could help them wrap up the legislative session.
“I don’t like raising sales tax, but we’ve given Kansas taxpayers a billion dollars back in their pockets, and we’re going to have to take a little of it back to make the ends meet,” Wagle said.
Another Republican, Sen. Jeff Melcher, turned Wagle’s cocktail analogy back on her when he said he didn’t support the tax increase.
“I don’t think this is a medicinal cocktail, I think this is an overdose. I think we need to pull this thing off the table before we overdose on it,” Melcher said. Lawmakers will be back to the drawing board today building a new plan.