By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Republican State Representative Paul Waggoner believes this may have been the best year the Legislature has had in a while.
"Actually, I'm very happy," Waggoner said. "Of the three years I've been up there, this would be the one that I think has had the most substantive accomplishments for the state and for the people of Reno County."
From tax relief to election legislation, the Republican majority was busy overriding Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's vetoes.
"The biggest was on the tax bill, Senate Bill 50 that actually decouples your taxes from the federal tax base," Waggoner said. "Because of the 2018 federal changes a lot of people actually had up to a $500 or $600 tax increase without their income changing at all. That's been fixed. It's also been made correct for businesses, as well. We had a number of things that maybe weren't quite as big, on reciprocity, on gun rights. The election bills, we made our laws more consistent."
One of the bills that didn't get overridden is the women in sports bill.
"It did end on the Senate side," Waggoner said. "I will say, it was probably still a couple of votes short on the House side as well. It has very strong majorities, but to get to two thirds, that's the real issue."
The legislature returns for Sine Die on May 26.
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