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Tax Plan Making Quick Progress In The Kansas Statehouse

Stephen Koranda
/
Kansas News Service/File photo

Lawmakers in the Kansas House are making fast progress on a tax bill. Last week was only the second week of the session, but a House committee held hearings on a plan that would repeal an income tax exemption for more than 300,000 businesses.

Many lawmakers want to consider that option, but it’s not yet clear if they might pursue that by itself, or include other tax policies in the same bill. Democratic Sen. Anthony Hensley wants to see a larger plan put together.

“If we repeal the LLC loophole, that is not going to solve the structural imbalance we have within our budget, so I think we need a comprehensive tax reform,” Hensley says.

Some lawmakers may also want to propose a simpler bill that would only repeal the business tax exemption. They then could look for other options, like spending cuts, to eliminate the rest of the budget shortfall. Still, other lawmakers don't want any tax increases at all to balance the budget.

Gov. Sam Brownback's administration argues the business tax exemption is boosting job growth and should be preserved.

There could be more work on tax legislation this week.

Stephen Koranda is the managing editor of the Kansas News Service, based at KCUR. He has nearly 20 years of experience in public media as a reporter and editor.