Kansas lawmakers will hold hearings this week on a controversial proposal to flatten the state’s individual and corporate income tax rates. Currently, the state has three rates for individuals. The bill under consideration in a House Committee would reduce that to one 5% tax rate. The Kansas Chamber, the state’s most influential business group, is pushing the proposal. But lawmakers in both parties are worried about its $1 billion-a-year cost. Republican Adam Smith chairs the House Taxation Committee. He says lawmakers need to be cautious when acting on several competing tax-cut proposals because everything has a cost, so, they just have to decide what their priority is.
Democratic Governor Laura Kelly’s priority is speeding up the elimination of the state sales tax on food as well as reducing taxes on social security benefits.
