Senate Leaders Outline Tax Plan

Top Republicans in the Kansas Senate have outlined a new plan for raising taxes to close a budget shortfall that’s similar to one proposed by GOP Gov. Sam Brownback.

Republican senators took a break after midnight Monday from a marathon debate on taxes to review the plan to raise $411 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1. That’s just enough to close the budget gap.

The proposal includes pieces of a plan Brownback outlined Saturday. Those elements include an increase in the state’s cigarette tax and a proposal to raise $24 million from taxing business profits that are now exempt from income taxes.

Brownback proposed boosting the sales tax to 6.65 percent from 6.15 percent. The new Senate plan would set the rate at 6.5 percent.