A bill that would have raised $1.2 billion in tax revenue during the next two years was approved by the Kansas Senate and then promptly rejected by the House Tuesday night.
As The Topeka Capital-Journal reports, Senate Bill 30 would have wiped out the state’s anticipated $900 million revenue shortfall through July 2019 and would have left enough money to expand aid to public schools, but after passing the Senate by a vote of 26-14, it failed in the House by a vote of 37-85.
The bill would have eliminated state income tax exemption for 330,000 businesses and would have had a lower income tax bracket of 3.1 percent, a middle bracket of 5.25 percent and a new upper bracket of 5.7 percent.
House Majority Leader Don Hineman, R-Dighton, said the objective of late-night wrangling was to get the bill through the legislative process and on Brownback’s desk as quickly as possible so if Brownback vetoed the bill, it would allow the Legislature a chance to respond Friday.