The Kansas State house was rocked today by the apparent admission by Governor Sam Brownback that the Tax Experiment meant to be an “injection of adrenaline” had apparently failed. Highlighting the need to make changes, the Governor held a night session with Republican legislators, saying he would be “OK” with losing the LLC Tax Exemption — the signature piece of his tax program — if he could replace it with another new, untested experiment.
Hunter Woodall, writing for the Kansas City Star, summed up the proposal here:
www.kansascity.com/…
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said Wednesday that he’ll sign a flat, single income tax bill if it makes it to his desk as the fight over tax increases continues in Topeka.
And Republican Senate leaders signaled that Brownback would allow a rollback of the “LLC exemption,” his tax cut for roughly 330,000 business owners, if its included in the Senate’s flat tax proposal.
That’s right. In response to the failure of Tax Experiment 1.0’s failure, the governor is willing to accept new terms: a new, equally untried tax experiment loved by conservatives nationally, a flat income tax.
“It’s late for him to engage, but if he can give us a proposal that he would not veto and we needed 21 (votes) rather than 27, it’s probably worth looking at,” Denning said. “I haven’t seen it; nothing may materialize.”
Back in February, Brownback vetoed a tax bill passed with bipartisan support that would have raised more than $1 billion over two years.
The prior legislation, which passed before the Gannon ruling, offered changes in the Governor’s 1.0 tax experiment, including the return of a 3rd tax bracket for those with more wealth. In response, the Governor has instead signaled that now is the time to embark on an all new experiment — going from 2 tax brackets to just 1.
Asked about the concept of flat-tax proposals in February, while they were under consideration in committee, many moderate Republican and all Democratic members seemed to roll their eyes at the possibility. Jim Ward, the Democratic House leader, referred to the proposal as “dubious”, while Democratic Senate Leader Anthony Hensley contended these proposals were "risky with no proof it would work at all."
Other legislators spoke out today:
But for Governor Brownback, the last minute insertion - immediately before the legislature breaks - is an ideal time to push an all new, untested, tax experiment.
Because we all know how well the first one worked out by now.