NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas Economist and former Republican State Treasurer candidate Michael Austin said Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's veto of the tax plan that literally was unanimous in the Kansas House is easy to explain.
"I can explain it as a betrayal of the people's trust," Austin said. "Governor Kelly has turned her back on not only the constituents that put her in office, but even her own party. If you have a bill where both Republicans and Democrats are supporting this tax compromise, why would you decide that the best thing to do is to get in the way?"
Governor Kelly appears to want to keep three income tax brackets. The plan she vetoed would have reduced that number to two.
"While that might sound okay, at a deeper look, what you realize is that she's proposing a 3% tax on the lowest income Kansans, whereas the bipartisan measure had a 0% tax on the lowest income," Austin said.
Austin believes there will be an effort to override this veto.
"Laura Kelly claims that the bipartisan bill is too expensive," Austin said. "In reality, what she's talking about is roughly a 10% difference. What she has proposed is only 10% cheaper than what the House and Senate put out there. If you took a look at that over a longer horizon, we're still having a state savings of roughly $2 billion, that's after the tax plans would be put into place."
Usually, the first plan that both parties can agree on ends up being the most reasonable legislation that can get across the line.
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