Last week the Kansas League of Women Voters elected co-presidents Marge Arhens of Topeka and Carole Neal of Wichita to lead the nonpartisan organization. Citing a tax position based on League’s 2013 tax study, the new co-presidents issued a statement calling for a balanced and fair three-pronged system of state taxation which returns the use of the income tax to the 2012 level.
This week, as Kansas lawmakers reconvened in Topeka, Johnson County’s MoveOn Council held a rally, “Get the Kansas Economy Back on Its Feet,” in the first floor rotunda of the capitol. Again, the message to the Legislature was undo the damage done in 2012, when Gov. Sam Brownback "reduced taxes on businesses to zero," creating the current budget deficit.
The net result has been a cut in services and tax increases elsewhere for most of us.
The task for our elected officials in Topeka is to pass a budget that covers essential state services. That includes adequately funding our schools and our transportation projects, as well as looking out for our most vulnerable citizens. The 2012 supply side economics fiasco is hurting our state. Looking for gimmicks won’t solve anything, but making sure everyone pays their fair share will.
While each of us has a different definition of “fair share,” does anyone think zero is fair?