Lawmakers in Kansas have moved a step closer to passing a bill that would reduce income taxes in the state—but the proposal faces a veto threat from the state governor's mansion.
The bill would decrease the tax rate for top earners in Kansas who are married and filing jointly from 5.7 percent to 5.57 percent and would decrease the rate for lower earners from 5.25 percent to 5.2 percent, according to the Kansas Reflector. The proposal would also raise the personal exemption allowance, include property tax relief, Social Security exemptions and the elimination of grocery taxes, according to the Reflector.
The bill passed the Republican-controlled state legislature by an overwhelming and bipartisan vote on the final day of the 2024 session and now heads to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's desk, where it faces a likely veto. That move from Kelly would force a summer special session.
"It's unacceptable," Will Lawrence, the governor's chief of staff, said according to a report by CJ Online. "The governor's not going to sign it. She will veto it. We will be in a special session."
If Kelly vetoes the bill as expected, Kansas residents are unlikely to see any tax changes in the near future.
Kelly has previously rejected other tax bills, but has also expressed a desire to lower taxes in for the state. Newsweek has contacted Kelly via the contact form on the governor's website outside of normal working hours.
"When working on any fiscal package, including tax cuts, legislators must consider the legislation's affordability beyond their next election," Kelly previously said regarding a separate tax bill that she struck down. "I encourage legislators to send me a tax package that gives Kansans the relief they desperately need while not putting the state on the path to bankruptcy.
"Kansans need meaningful sales, property, and income tax relief. However, we must ensure that the plan is affordable for the long term," she said in a general statement on the veto threats. "We must be mindful of the fiscal mistakes of the previous administration and ensure we can provide tax relief while continuing the progress we have made as a state."
Other lawmakers have agreed that the bill in its current form is unlikely to meet the governor's expectations.
"This bill is not going to become law," Republican state Senator Tim Shallenburger said, according to the Reflector. "It's time we go down to the second floor and try to figure out what in the world the governor will accept. If we can't accept it, we go home and do nothing. If we can, we ought to do it."
GOP Senate president Ty Masterson expressed frustration following the negotiations.
"When do you not say that she's being a bit of a dictator when you have bipartisan supermajorities repeatedly sending her tax cuts?" Masterson said.
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Aliss Higham is a Newsweek reporter based in Glasgow, Scotland. Her focus is reporting on issues across the U.S., including ... Read more
