Legislative Update May 2010

2010 Legislative Wrap-Up

Legislature raises Kansans' taxes nearly 20%

Why I opposed this outrageous tax increase

This year pro-tax legislators successfully brought forth a deficit budget that requires a tax increase on hardworking Kansas families.

The budget, which passed the House 71 to 52, has a negative ending balance of $292 million dollars and includes new government spending of $204 million dollars. A tax package was then offered and passed to get the budget back to a positive ending balance as required by statute.

I voted NO on this damaging piece of legislation.

The budget battle at the Kansas Capitol ended with more tax-and-spend policies that will hurt Kansas families and businesses.

The consequence of raising taxes in a recession is well documented by economists on both sides of the aisle. Recovery is slowed, businesses suffer, and Kansas families already hard hit economically have to reach further into their wallets to pay for irresponsible government spending.

This plan encourages unchecked growth on 53% of our state budget by removing the independent audit process for schools. It allows the use of taxpayer money for campaign commercials, cuts millions in veteran’s programs, compromises our agriculture safety programs, cuts services to the elderly, increases prescription costs for Medicaid recipients while cutting hospice services, and further harms public safety by cutting the judicial budget - all while requiring a tax increase.

The House Appropriations Committee began working on a budget 4 months ago accruing hundreds of hours of testimony and input from constituents, state agencies and private businesses. The information collected during the appropriations hearings was crucial in creating a House budget that minimized the impact of the recession on state services while preventing a tax increase on Kansans. Instead of working with the committee, the pro-tax legislators waited until the final hours of the session to bring forth a deficit plan that required a tax package that closely mirrored that of the Senate. This tactic pushed the legislature past the anticipated adjournment date.

I favored a more responsible plan

The original House Appropriations plan was a fiscally responsible budget that provided mechanisms to alleviate the small cuts necessary to schools. The pro tax budget provided the same funding as the original House plan to schools but instead of using existing contingency funds it utilizes additional taxpayer dollars to fill the void, and leaves hundreds of millions of dollars in cash accounts with no oversight.

I am troubled that a few appropriations members decided that the best way to have their ideas heard was to circumvent the full legislative process. While the committee was hard at work trying to prevent a tax increase by limiting government growth and freezing spending, these members were quietly making a deal with the Governor to support his tax hike. Instead of legislative input from across the state this plan was released at the last minute containing components that were never discussed and some that are unnecessary or just plain mistakes. It’s disappointing that in their hurry to grow government that the pro tax legislators were unwilling to look at alternatives.

This deficit budget plan required a tax bill that raised an additional $1.5 billion dollars over the next five years. Unfortunately for hard working Kansas families this does not appear to be enough to prevent an additional budget deficit as early as 2012 if the economy continues to sag and the government continues to spend at such an alarming rate.

It is an honor to serve you in the House of Representatives. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me or my staff.

Sincerely,

Rep. Owen Donohoe

39th District Kansas