NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
ALDEN, Kan. — Republican State Senator Alicia Straub of Ellinwood came to a Rice County Farm Bureau event on the far eastern edge of her district in Alden Saturday and let the people there know that she voted against the budget legislation but for the latest tax cut legislation that passed the Senate Thursday.
"If you want to balance a budget, you've got to cut expenditures," Straub said. "You've got to vote against expenditure increases and you've got to vote for tax cuts, because you want to start choking down the government, so they won't have funds to spend."
Even though she thinks the legislature could do more to give people their money back, she still supported the flat tax bill.
"This is like the fourth or fifth tax bill that I have voted on that includes a flat tax," Straub said. "For everybody's information, I have always voted for every one of those tax bills because, as a Republican, a tax cut, is a tax cut, is a tax cut."
The bill passed on Thursday passed the Senate with a 29-11 majority. If the majority can hold on to 27 of those votes, they could successfully override a veto, if Gov. Kelly were to do so. Kelly has already vetoed one flat tax bill this session.
The bill has not been voted on yet in the House, so no one knows if they would have two-thirds or not, if they would need it. It's also likely that the House will have somewhat different priorities than the Senate, and that those differences will have to be worked out in a conference committee.
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