GOP leaders still can’t overcome the Kansas governor’s veto to enact big tax cuts

TOPEKA, Kan. — Republican lawmakers again narrowly succeeded Monday in passing a broad package of tax cuts over Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto, making it likely that lawmakers would end their second straight annual session without major cuts.

The Senate voted 26-14 to override Kelly’s veto of a package of income, sales and property tax cuts over the next three years worth about $1.5 billion, but that was one vote less than the necessary two-thirds majority. Three dissident Republican senators joined all 11 Democratic senators in voting no, dashing Republican leaders’ hopes of reversing at least one of them after the House voted 104-15 on Friday to override Kelly’s veto.

The governor called the tax plan “too expensive,” suggesting it would lead to future budget problems for the state. Kelly also told fellow Democrats that she believes Kansas’ current three personal income tax rates ensure the wealthy pay their fair share. would have switched to two rates, with the highest rate reduced from 5.7% to 5.55%.

Republican leaders argued that the difference in long-term costs between the plan Kelly vetoed and a plan worth roughly $1.3 billion over three years that she proposed last week was small enough that both would have about the same impact on budget in five or six years. year. Democrats were divided over the fairness of the plan, with most Democrats in the House of Representatives agreeing with most Republicans in both chambers that they saw it as a good plan for poor taxpayers and the working class.

Parliament is scheduled to adjourn for a year at the end of Tuesday’s term, and Republican leaders do not plan to try to pass a tax bill again before then.

“This tax process is in disarray,” Senate Tax Committee Chairman Caryn Tyson, a Republican from rural eastern Kansas, told her colleagues. “We’re ready. This is the last train to leave the station.”

Kelly vetoed Republican tax plans in 2023 and in January that would have moved Kansas to a single personal income tax rate, something Kelly said would benefit the “super wealthy.”

Democrats and dissident Republicans in the Senate argued that the House and Senate could negotiate a new tax plan along the lines of what Kelly proposed last week and dump it into an existing bill for up-or-down votes in both chambers – in one go. day, if GOP leaders were willing.

Dissident Republican Sen. Dennis Pyle, from the northeastern corner of the state, said lawmakers are making progress. Top Republicans had withdrawn their push for a single-rate personal income tax, and both bills vetoed by Kelly this year would have exempted retirees’ Social Security benefits from state income taxes, with those taxes now kicking in if they earn $75,000 a year or more.

Kelly herself stated in her January veto message that to pass tax cuts, “I will call a special session if necessary.”

“Look how far we’ve come,” Pyle told his colleagues. “Our work is not finished yet.”

The bill vetoed by Kelly would also have reduced property taxes for public schools, saving the owner of a $250,000 home about $142 a year. It would have eliminated an already expiring 2% sales tax on groceries six months earlier, on July 1. The governor supported these provisions, along with the Social Security benefit exemptions.