Tax cuts, Medicaid expansion both potentially on the table in veto session

The income tax cuts championed by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce earlier in the session will get another run during the veto session according to Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle.

“Most Kansans have lost their ability to itemize on their income taxes,” said Wagle. “They were shocked when they saw that, in most cases, their Kansas income tax was higher than their federal income tax. They want that ability to itemize to be given back.”

Other tax cuts for Kansans were in the bill, as well.

“We also worked on eliminating and working towards reducing the food sales tax,” said Wagle. “It has several items in it that I think are very popular with Kansans, so we’re going to take a second shot at that bill.”

That’s one piece of the budget picture that still needs dealt with. Another is the potential for Medicaid Expansion.

“The Minority Leader in the Kansas Senate has already placed on the table a motion to pull that bill out of committee, which we will take up tomorrow morning,” said Wagle. “It takes 24 members to pull the bill out of committee. Most of my members in the Republican Party are very concerned that the bill that was sent over from the House is clearly a huge tax increase. There were no restrictions or limitations in the bill. Most of us feel that Kansas has a very strong safety net right now.”

Once those two main pieces are dealt with, it shouldn’t take long to get the rest of the budget together. Wagle expects the veto session to be short.