February 06, 2019 - 4:16 PM
TOPEKA, Kan. - The Latest on the Kansas Legislature's debate over a Republican tax relief proposal (all times local):
6:15 p.m.
Republican legislators in Kansas have advanced a bill designed to prevent individuals and businesses from paying higher income taxes to the state because of changes in federal tax laws.
The GOP-controlled Senate gave the measure first-round approval Wednesday on a voice vote. Senators plan to take a final vote Thursday to determine whether it goes to the Republican-controlled House.
Republicans are defying Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's call to wait on rewriting state tax laws.
Federal taxes were cut late in 2017 but some changes forced some people to pay more to their home states. The federal standard deduction increased to limit itemizing on Kansas returns because its tax code is tied to federal law. The bill would allow Kansas filers to itemize even if they don't on federal returns.
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3:28 p.m.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's election victory suggested that Kansas repudiated past GOP fiscal policies.
Yet voters also encouraged top Republicans to pursue income tax relief by giving conservatives more power in the Legislature.
The contradiction is driving a political clash coming to a head quickly, with the state Senate debating a tax relief bill Wednesday.
The proposal is designed to keep Kansas residents and businesses from paying higher income taxes to the state because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017.
Kelly argues she was elected because voters wanted her to fix state government and avoid repeating past fiscal mistakes.
But many Republican legislators are unimpressed. She won with 48 per cent of the vote and conservatives picked up seats in the GOP-controlled Legislature.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019