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Gov. Brownback Signs Tax Bill Into Law: Lower Income Tax, Higher Sales Tax

Legislation that cuts Kansas income taxes over the next five years is now law.

Gov.  Brownback signed House Bill 2059 this morning during a signing ceremony at a construction site in Overland Park.  Brownback followed that event up with a signing ceremony this afternoon at the McGinty Machine Company in downtown Wichita.

Read a summary of the bill here.

The governor's office says House Bill 2059--now law--reduces individual income tax rates by 20 - 23% for Kansans.

It also changes the lowers the standard deduction for personal income taxes--from $9,000 to $7,500 for married taxpayers filing jointly and $5,500 for individuals. The governor hopes to eventually eliminate the state income tax entirely.

The bill also sets the state sales tax rate at 6.1%. Lawmakers had raised the sales tax from 5.7% to 6.3% in 2012, after passing massive income tax cuts. The rate had originally been set to drop back down to 5.7% on July 1. This move will raise an estimated $777 million for the state.

When she's not out making lattes in her mobile coffee bus Sunflower Espresso, Kate Hutchens is a fill-in host for KMUW. She has worked in broadcast journalism at KFDI, Oregon Public Broadcasting, and at KMUW as Morning Edition host, which she did until March 2017.