By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There are many social issues on which Republican Paul Waggoner and Democrat Garth Strand differ, but the clearest policy issue to see their difference on may be overall state spending.
"Kansas government has grown quite a lot in the last two and a half to three years," Waggoner said. "It's gone from a $6.2 billion budget up to over an $8 billion budget, which is an unsustainable trajectory for anyone who is paying attention."
FY 2014 is the last year we can find where State General Fund expenditures actually went down. According to the Kansas Legislative Research Department's Fiscal Facts, the FY 2014 State General Fund budget totaled $5.999 billion, a decrease of $136.1 million, or 2.2 percent, below the FY 2013 actual State General Fund amount of $6.135 billion.
This thought about the state budget has gone from $6 to $8 billion, it's gone back to where it was," Strand said. "It hasn't been an increase. The Brownback administration slashed it so badly and we all know what happened to that. It was just unsustainable."
According to the KLRD Fiscal Facts, from FY 2017 to FY 2021, the State General Fund went from $6.3 billion to $8.0 billion.
They're working from generally the same numbers, but their conclusions are different. The same is true when it comes to a bill that was purported to cut taxes by allowing Kansans to itemize at the state level even if they couldn't at the federal level. Senate Bill 22 was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
"People's state taxes were hiked without any input from them," Waggoner said. "We almost passed it. It required a two-thirds majority because Governor Kelly and the Democrats fought against it. That even had a food sales tax provision in it."
Strand pointed out that considerable relief in the bill would also have gone to corporations through decoupling the state from the global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) deduction under section 951(A), exempting repatriated income under section 965(a) and decoupling from the 30 percent limitation on net interest expense deductions under section 163(j).
"There were some good things in that," Strand said. "I'll give him credit for that. There was also a very, very large tax break for a handful of big corporations in Kansas. There's never any mention of that. We have to be honest and transparent in our dealings in Topeka and look for the best solution."
Strand and Waggoner are on the ballot November 3 in the 104th Kansas House District.