It was reported in April that tax revenue in Kansas was down 45 percent due to Gov. Sam Brownback's destructive policies. Things were so bad that in August Standard & Poor downgraded the credit rating for the state.
Well, the new revenue figures from June to September are in and it's even worse than imagined:
Revenue numbers for July through September, the first three months of fiscal year 2015, suggest Kansas’ revenue gap is permanent, not temporary. The state anticipated $578 million in personal income tax collections over the summer, but it took in just $524 million, a miss of more than 10 percent. That was nationally atypical; according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government, 14 states have published projected and actual monthly personal income tax receipts through September, and the other 13 all came within 5 percent of expectations.
Kansas’ wide miss was probably a result of wading into uncharted territory with its tax reforms. In addition to cutting income tax rates, Kansas made itself the only state with a general personal-income tax that exempts “pass-through income” from tax.
As noted by the
New York Times, these stunning figures are indicative of a permanent trend. One that won't be stopped unless Sam Brownback gets his walking papers in November.
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Conservatives are looking to Kansas for validation of their tax cut ideology. Let's show them there are personal and political consequences for failing residents so miserably.