Government

The Kansas House has given first-round approval to a bill cutting sales and income taxes after rejecting a diversion of highway funds to stabilize the budget.

The bill advanced Wednesday on an 82-37 vote, suggesting it has enough support to pass on final action, which is expected Thursday.

The legislation follows up on personal income tax cuts enacted last year by promising income tax rate reductions each year that overall state revenues grow more than 2 percent.

Also, the bill allows the state sales tax to decline as scheduled in July.

The Kansas House Wednesday rejected a proposal by Democrats aimed at reducing the property taxes paid by Kansans.

The Kansas House has given first-round approval to wide-ranging abortion bill.

Abortion-rights advocates consider the bill on the chamber's Tuesday agenda the biggest threat to abortion services proposed in the 2013 Kansas legislature.

Supporters contend the measure will lessen the state's entanglement with a procedure that many residents find objectionable.

The bill would prevent groups that provide abortions from receiving tax exemptions or credits that go to other nonprofit groups or health care providers. It would also bar women who claim income tax deductions for medical expenses from including the cost of abortion services.

A Kansas House committee has advanced a bill that would overhaul the state's civil service system.

The Kansas House and Senate are working on two bills that would cut income taxes, but they are very different in one aspect.

The bill that passed the Senate would make permanent a temporary sales tax that's set to expire later this year. The House plan would let the sales tax expire as planned.

Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce, a Republican from Hutchinson, says while significant it wouldn't be a deal breaker.

The Kansas Senate has passed a bill barring public employee unions from deducting money from their members' paychecks for political purposes.

Currently, union members can have voluntary contributions automatically deducted from their paychecks to be used for political advocacy.

Some supporters of the bill say it prevents union members' dues from going to candidates or causes they don't support, and it takes government out of the business of processing the contributions.

The Kansas Senate has passed a bill that would cut income tax rates in Kansas and keep the sales tax at its current rate.

The Kansas House is preparing to vote on three proposals to change state gun regulations.

The Kansas House will soon be considering a tax plan that's very different from one proposed by Governor Sam Brownback.