When Governor Brownback announced his budget this last week in Kansas, many expected him to find revenue somewhere - and no one was too shocked to see the majority of the tax burden placed on the working class.
Last night in Douglas County, Democrats gathered to talk about why significant increases on sin taxes - without any role back of tax cuts for the wealthy simply don't make sense.
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"The governor has proposed to raise the taxes on every beer that you drink by 50 percent and to triple the taxes on every pack of cigarettes you smoke," said Rep. Boog Highberger of Lawrence. "You work hard every day, and the last thing you need is for your beer to cost more when you come in."
Sam Brownback's administration, though, has another view on the impact of sin based taxes.
Shawn Sullivan, Governor Brownback's budget director, pointed out that Sin Taxes are ideal in many ways because people can decide to cut back, thus minimizing their tax input:
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But Shawn Sullivan, the governor's budget director, defended the proposals last week, arguing that people have more power to control how much they pay in sales and consumption taxes because they have the option of deciding how much to spend on retail sales and whether or not they drink or smoke.
Sullivan's joyful response that a simple cut back by Kansas consumers is a way to avoid the tax, however, would spell doom for Governor Brownback's tax plan.
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On the revenue side, Brownback proposes raising cigarette taxes would from $0.79 to $2.29 a pack and alcohol tax is hiked four percent, from 8 percent to 12 percent. In addition, scheduled income tax cuts for 2016 would happen, but previously enacted for 2017 and 2018 would not.
The tax changes would raise an additional $394 million over the two years, starting in July.
Sullivan's projections anticipate that more than half - $394M - of the revenue shortfall. Should a temperance movement break out in Kansas, Sullivan's projections for taming the overwhelming debt in Kansas fall apart. Simply put: Brownback needs people to keep drinking, smoking and just paying the higher rate.
Sam Brownback, who ran on the premise of lower taxes for all now finds himself putting Sin taxes - often thought of as nanny taxes by Republicans. At one point in time, some of Brownback's biggest blog supporters demanded an end to the'nanny state'... now, Brownback is finding that whether it is social policy or a cash cow is something he doesn't have time to debate in order to keep the Kansas budget afloat.
Regular Kansans, though, may feel a bit differently as their costs skyrocket. Many of them, who found less reason to vote this time around, may relate to the direction of their state differently.