4 April 2024
TOPEKA (KSNT) – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is likely to sign a bipartisan tax plan finalized on Wednesday this week.
The governor sent a statement to Nexstar’s Kansas Capitol Bureau on Thursday, April 4. She says she intends to sign the plan, despite it not being “perfect.”
“Conference Committee Report for House Bill 2036 does not represent the perfect tax plan. However, it provides substantial tax relief for all Kansans by completely axing the food sales tax effective this July 1, cutting property taxes particularly for those on fixed incomes, fully eliminating state Social Security taxes for our seniors, increasing the child care tax credit for Kansas families, and providing an income tax cut through a rate reduction and substantially increasing in the standard deduction – the largest standard deduction increase of any plan passed this session. It does all this while maintaining the current income tax structure and keeping Kansas on a fiscally sustainable path forward. I intend to sign this bipartisan compromise when it reaches my desk.”
Gov. Laura Kelly, D-Kansas
In an interview with Nexstar’s Kansas Capitol Bureau, shortly before meeting to finalize the deal Wednesday, Senator Caryn Tyson, who chairs the Senate Tax committee spoke about the details of the mega tax package.
“The mega tax bill will include exempting social security… for all… it’s got a little bit of property tax relief,” Tyson, R-Parker, said. “It does decrease the top bracket which the Governor complained about because it helps the highest income earners in the state of Kansas, but these are the provisions that have apparently been negotiated and worked on.”
The deal would also increase the standard deduction, and speed up the elimination of the state food sales tax to July 1, 2024. As for addressing income tax, the bill keeps the three-tiered tax bracket, but cuts the highest bracket from 5.7% to 5.5%.
Tyson says they’re hoping to bring the bill to the floor on Thursday, April 4.
“We are trying to get tax relief for all Kansans… and different people have different ideas of how that looks… not everybody agrees… but, if we can get something across the line, at least it will be some tax relief for Kansans,” Tyson said.
To watch the tax panel committee meeting from Wednesday, click here.
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