Guest Blog Post by Kansas Organization of State Employees Families and communities need an effective system of mental health services in order to thrive. Funding and staffing cutbacks in the state’s system in recent years jeopardize the ability of this system to accomplish its public mission of caring for people affected by mental illnesses. At the … Read More

Duane Goossen September 6, 2017 Gov. Brownback’s tax experiment brought havoc to the Kansas budget and put the state’s general fund in severe financial distress. But in June, a bipartisan supermajority of lawmakers rescinded those policies in a dramatic veto override and put Kansas back on a more stable financial path. The chart below tells … Read More

Guest blogpost by American Federation of Teachers — Kansas The people of Kansas believe in service to others. At the American Federation of Teachers – Kansas (AFT-Kansas) we echo this commitment and work tirelessly to ensure that the State’s public employees and the communities they serve are given the best possible opportunities for stability, growth, … Read More

June 30, 2017 A new fiscal year begins on Saturday – a milestone that deserves celebration. Because lawmakers boldly set Kansas on the path out of the Brownback tax experiment, Fiscal Year 2018 marks the beginning of our state’s financial recovery. Unlike recent years, Kansas is now better positioned to provide great schools, vibrant communities, … Read More

May 21, 2017 Five years ago tomorrow, Governor Sam Brownback signed into law one of the most damaging pieces of state fiscal policy America has ever seen. “Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback took a grand gamble Tuesday with a monumental tax plan that he hopes will spur an economic revival and not an unparalleled budget crisis … Read More

Duane Goossen May 3, 2017 As the Kansas Legislature begins a “wrap-up” session, how big is the budget gap that must be closed in order to adequately fund schools and repair the state’s dismal financial situation? Recent revisions to the general fund revenue forecast predict tax collections to be about $50 million a year higher … Read More

Nathan Madden April 20, 2017 When Governor Sam Brownback signed his signature tax policy into law in May of 2012, he did so with great fanfare. On that day, ignoring dire warnings from economists and budget analysts, he urged Kansans to simply believe in his plan – no matter what the data projected. Job creation … Read More

Scott Anglemyer, Kansas Association of Community Action Programs Guest blog post April 3, 2017 Economists don’t agree on much. As George Bernard Shaw said, “If all the economists were laid end-to-end, they’d never reach a conclusion.” One of the few things that most economists agree on, however, is that the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) … Read More

Heidi Holliday March 29, 2017 Over the past several weeks, an insidious tax structure proposal has been making the rounds in the Kansas Statehouse: flat taxes. While the idea that everyone pays the same rate—regardless of income—may initially seem attractive, a basic look into the impact of such a tax shows that it’s anything but. … Read More