Kansas, Missouri pushing to eliminate state income tax?

[KCMax]

Will Missouri morph into Kansas?

A white paper issued by a Missouri Republican Party task force — and obtained by The Buzz — recommends sweeping changes to the state tax code and suggests that lawmakers consider wiping out the income tax. ..

Recommendation one was to eliminate the corporate income tax and pay for it by erasing many state tax credits.
Calling the corporate income tax “inefficient and burdensome,” the committee said wiping out the tax was “one of the most promising ways to energize Missouri’s underachieving economy.”

In suggesting that Missouri consider eliminating the income tax, the committee said the sales tax should be broadened by wiping out the more than 400 exemptions now included in the tax code.

[FangKC]

Kansas tax changes ripple into classroom, officials say

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/b ... 2013-10-25

[FangKC]

Johnson County ‘in a pickle’ because of Kansas tax policies, official says

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/24/45 ... rylink=cpy

[FangKC]

Steve Rose's editorial in the KC Star on Rex Sinquefield's Forbes article on Brownback's revolution.

Effects of Sam Brownback’s revolution yet to be felt in Kansas

Rex Sinquefield, the ultra-rich Missouri gadfly who single-handedly imposes his will on his state’s politics — much like the Koch brothers do in Kansas — wrote an article that appeared in a recent issue of Forbes magazine. The headline: “How Kansas Governor Brownback Schooled Missouri on Tax Cuts, And Showed The Region How To Grow.”

He had written another admiring article a year earlier at the time of the tax revolution in Kansas, when income taxes were slashed, and certain corporations received huge tax cuts.

Now Sinquefield writes, “Just one year later, a close look at the data backs up the economic projections of Brownback’s visionary leadership.”

No, it doesn’t. Not at all.

The overzealous writer cites so-called facts, which are irrefutably wrong.

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/26/45 ... ution.html

[kigmee]

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/04/45 ... rcent.html

Missouri tax revenues up 2.5% through first 4 months of fiscal year.

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/10/31/45 ... rness.html

Kansas state revenue down 8.5%.

Missouri would be well served to observe results of the Kansas experiment before cutting income tax rates itself.

[KCMax]

Missouri would be well served to observe results of the Kansas experiment before cutting income tax rates itself.

But they TOOK ERRRR JOBS

[chingon]

But they TOOK ERRRR JOBS

Plus they're kicking our ass. Just look at all that shit by the racetrack. WE COULD HAVE HAD THAT!!!!! Instead: toy train boondoggle for hispters to get robbed on with no sewers.

[Eon Blue]

Don't forget, the ideologues want to reduce the size of government. Decreased revenue plays into their plans for this. The real test will be economic & population change outcomes.

[FangKC]

The thing Kansans should be concerned about, especially those in Johnson County, is the effect of Brownback's cuts to education in the state.

Johnson County's advantage in the Metro for decades has been its' good school system. The school district there is just now starting to have to deal with growing poverty in the county--as the northern suburbs age, and the social problems that come with it.

If the school districts in Johnson County begin to suffer, more Metro residents could start moving to Missouri suburbs like Lee's Summit, and north of the river, so their kids can attend school there. Affluent subdivisions are starting to be constructed on the Missouri side now.

Even if some companies move to Kansas to take advantage of lower corporate taxes, workers can still opt to live in Missouri if the school districts in Johnson County begin to decline.

---

The Pitch's guide to Kansas' shift from far right to very wrong

K-12 Education

You needn't look too far to see the effects of this reckless policy. The Shawnee Mission School District has eliminated 400 positions over the past three years. Early childhood education, new library books, all-day kindergarten and social workers for homeless students are now out of reach.

A Kansas Supreme Court decision on the case is expected in January. Some state lawmakers, meanwhile, have pledged to ignore the court if it doesn't find in the state's favor.

Sane lawmakers have expressed concern about the outcome. "I don't believe the state under the current tax law can sustain over the next five years," says Rep. Melissa Rooker, a Republican House member from Fairway who sits on the House Education Committee. She tells The Pitch: "If you add the ramifications of losing the court case, I don't think it's a sustainable plan. ... I don't have enough experience to know how we navigate the crisis, but I think such a crisis is on the horizon."

...

Higher Education

At the University of Kansas Medical Center, that sets up a loss of $8 million over the next two years.

"Essentially, this penalizes us for being frugal and planning our finances to anticipate future needs," Dr. Doug Girod, KU Med executive vice chancellor, wrote in a memo to his staff.

Overall, the cuts bleed $36.4 million from higher education over the next two years. "These cuts impact all aspects of public higher education including the 32 public institutions, the Board of Regents office, student financial aid, and adult-education programs," the Kansas Board of Regents wrote in a statement. "At a time when more Kansans are turning to higher education to improve their lives, these cuts will be devastating."

http://tinyurl.com/oyfoscs

[flyingember]

Johnson County's advantage in the Metro for decades has been its' good school system. The school district there is just now starting to have to deal with growing poverty in the county--as the northern suburbs age, and the social problems that come with it.

very true and it's not just the northern suburbs. assuming this site is correct

http://projects.propublica.org/schools/ ... 1164001578

Shawnee Mission West is heading toward 25% free/reduced lunches.
Shawnee Mission North is 30%
Shawnee Mission NW and South are past 15%

The Blue Valley schools are 5% or less. Shawnee Mission East is the same

you can see that the line isn't north vs south, it's in two steps. you can see how the number triples across the middle of the county and doubles or triples again about the northern third

[grovester]

If I recall it was going north/south, but along an i35 axis. Not surprising considering the abundance of low income apartments that start in RP and continue through Shawnee/Lenexa/OP.

[KCMax]

The Corporate Tax Rate Debate: Lower Taxes on Corporate Profits Not Linked to Job Creation

We examined the job creation track record of 60 large, profitable U.S. corporations (from a list of 280 Fortune 500 companies) with the highest and lowest effective tax rates between 2008 and 2010 and found:

•22 of the 30 corporations that paid the highest tax rates (30 percent or more) on their reported profits created almost 200,000 jobs between 2008 and 2012. Only eight of the 30 firms paying high tax rates reported reducing the number of employees between 2008 and 2012.

•The 30 profitable corporations that paid little or no taxes over three years collectively shed 51,289 jobs; half of these low-tax firms created some jobs, and half shed jobs between 2008 and 2012.

•Lowe’s, the nation’s second-largest home improvement store, paid over 36 percent in taxes on reported profits of $9 billion between 2008 and 2010, and hired an additional 28,820 employees between 2008 and 2012.

•Verizon, the nation’s largest wireless provider, reported $32 billion in U.S. profits between 2008 and 2010, yet received tax refunds totaling $951 million and reduced the number of employees by almost 56,000 between 2008 and 2012.

In 2004, when a temporary “tax holiday” on offshore profits was put in place, 58 firms brought $218 billion in profits back to the U.S. under the program, for a savings of $64 billion on their taxes. In the following two years, those 58 firms eliminated 600,000 jobs.

[knucklehead]

Wisconsin lagging in job growth despite adopting conservative "pro-growth" policies.

http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/201 ... plo_5.html

Not sure of the details of what Wisconsin has done tax wise.

[phxcat]

What is the mood on the ground in Kansas? Is there any sense of Kansas starting to become a blue state? Or at least an Eisenhower Republican state? Will Kansans vote for ex moderate Republicans who run as Democrats or continue to vote for the person with the R by their name?

[grovester]

The legislature is so overwhelming republican, and right-wing at that, that it will take a long time to get out from under. The best hope is that Davis knocks off Brownback and restores a little moderation to the state.

[KCMax]

What is the mood on the ground in Kansas? Is there any sense of Kansas starting to become a blue state? Or at least an Eisenhower Republican state? Will Kansans vote for ex moderate Republicans who run as Democrats or continue to vote for the person with the R by their name?

No, its still one of the most Republican states in the union. However, Brownback is deeply unpopular, and he is vulnerable. If Paul Davis runs a good campaign, he has a chance, as Kansans seem to prefer moderates in the Governor's Mansion (Sebelius, Graves, Finney).

I don't know what the mood is for legislative seats. A ton of JoCo moderates GOPers were knocked out in the primaries, I think one or two of them officially left the party. If the legislature continues to make funding cuts to schools, that could rile a lot of moderate JoCoers to get out the vote. But don't underestimate how strong the Tea Party hold is in Kansas.

[chaglang]

If there is going to be a move by the Kansas GOP toward the center, you can bet it will come from Johnson County. The only question is, how much education spending and other amenities like parks and libraries will they allow to be cut before reacting. I think that Johnson County is basically a moderate GOP place that was fine with going along with the fringe's agenda as long as it didn't threaten the country's basic selling point: schools.

[KCMax]

Mo. tax cut backers, foes both cite Kansas cuts

A Republican-led Senate committee heard testimony on a trio of proposals - one cutting taxes only on business income, another reducing the individual income tax rate and a third phasing in tax cuts for both businesses and individuals....

Missouri lawmakers are particularly concerned that businesses in the Kansas City area will relocate across the state line to take advantage of the new tax savings.

But opponents of an income tax cut said Missouri already is ahead of Kansas in economic indicators and could jeopardize funding for state services if it followed Kansas' example.

[flyingember]

I think that Johnson County is basically a moderate GOP place that was fine with going along with the fringe's agenda as long as it didn't threaten the country's basic selling point: schools.

this is a fair point

JoCo voted the way they did because things were done to improve quality of life for residents. schools play a big part of this but crime levels, access to jobs, parks, good shopping nearby all play a part

when that stops the vote will change. JoCo is 1/5 of Kansas after all

KC is much the same way in liking moderates. there's areas that vote liberal but overall the people that get elected at the city level are not on either end politically in recent years. the current group is good at making the argument be about "does it help KC move forward and can we afford it". and it shows in how the many projects being done are being done well overall

[KCMax]

NY Times: Brownback Leads Kansas in Sharp Right Turn

Mr. Brownback’s signature achievement as governor has been eliminating income taxes for almost 200,000 small businesses and deeply cutting individual income taxes. He said that the Kansas economy was already showing signs of moving forward because of the cuts. Unemployment fell to 4.9 percent last December, the lowest level in more than five years and lower than the national average of 6.6 percent in January. When he started his term in January 2011, the state had $876 in the bank; now there is more than $700 million in cash reserves and Kansas personal income, a measure of family earnings, is growing. The state had more than 15,000 new business filings in 2012, a record, and sales tax receipts have risen.

“It’s working,” Mr. Brownback said, sporting black cowboy boots as he lounged on a green nailhead-trim love seat in his office. “I can tell you where you would’ve been had we not changed the policies. You’d be having higher unemployment, you’d continue to have out-migration in the state of Kansas. You wouldn’t have this level of job growth taking place. You would not have this number of new business formations in the state of Kansas, and you’d still have a broke state government.”

But there is far from universal agreement. Personal income and gross state product are growing at a slower rate than the national average. And the state’s nonpartisan legislative research department has projected that the budget will face a $213.6 million shortfall in fiscal 2017, in large part because of the deep tax cuts that are expected to cost the state about $3.9 billion over the next five years.