(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers May 2, 2016)
Members of the Kansas House last week either shot themselves in the foot…or didn’t. It’s too early to tell.
The issue was that bill that would essentially kill the now famous/infamous Kansas income tax exemption for Limited Liability Companies, some small corporations, the self-employed and, yes, many farmers.
If there is a genuine lightning rod for voter interest, it is probably who pays taxes and who doesn’t…and then why do I have to?
It comes out that simple.
For the last two years, as Kansas tax revenues have grown slowly and the state’s budget balance has shrunk, and now disappeared, the focus on those business tax cuts has sharpened. We all know about the 330,000 Kansans who don’t pay income tax to the state while most of the rest of Kansans do…though at lower rates that were part of the LLC tax elimination legislation that nobody talks about out loud.