TOPEKA — Legislators are wrestling with Gov. Mark Parkinson’s recommendation to raise taxes to cover the state’s budget crisis. Although legislators are against raising taxes, many are starting to reconsider his proposal. State Sen. Jay Emler, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, told the Kansas Information Network legislators have only three options to deal with the state budget – cut more than $400 million more out of spending for basic services, raise taxes or a combination of the two. At his State of the State speech, Parkinson proposed a temporary sales tax increase and a permanent increase in the tobacco tax.
