(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Dec. 19 2016)
We’re down to the just-before 2017 Legislature time when every little hint about what the governor would or would not consider in the march to a balanced budget becomes important.
And last week, at a series of press conferences, Gov. Sam Brownback said that he might, just might, consider some proposals to increase state revenues to balance the budget—apparently blended with reductions in spending.
Reporters have spent a lot of time crafting questions that would bring some subtle indication about just what tax increases the governor would, with just his signature, allow to become law.
So far, we’ve managed to get one pretty solid indication of a tax that he absolutely has no interest in. That’s a start.