TOPEKA — In last night’s State of the State address, Gov. Mark Parkinson proposed two new taxes to raise revenue to cover the state’s $400 million budget gap. He proposed a temporary one-cent sales tax for 36 months and a 55-cent-per-pack cigarette tax. Parkinson said as the Kansan who has cut the most out of the state’s budget in the state’s history, he said there is no more places in the budget he can responsibly cut without severely harming public education, public safety and services for the elderly and disabled. In his reply, which was written last week, Republican House speaker Mike O’Neal said now is not the time to raise taxes.
