TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Kansas legislators have plenty of policy
objections to Governor Sam Brownback’s plan to overhaul the state’s
individual income tax code.
But efforts to sell the package also are clouded by questions
about how his administration has spun his proposals.
The Republican governor said his plan would be "revenue
neutral," meaning it wouldn’t reduce the state’s overall tax
collections. The administration kept using the phrase last week,
even after its own figures showed revenues would drop nearly $90
million during the fiscal year that begins July 1st.
Brownback said his proposed budget for the next fiscal year
would leave Kansas with healthy cash reserves of $465 million at
the end of June 2013, exceeding guidelines set in Kansas law. But
the calculation didn’t account for the effects of his tax plan.