Editor’s Note: The following is a report by state Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, on recent action in the Kansas Legislature. Davis was appointed to the Kansas House District 46 seat when former state Rep. Troy Findley left the position to serve as legislative liaison for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. Davis’ column will be published online throughout the 2003 session of the Legislature.

Many legislators are eagerly awaiting Governor Sebelius’ revenue package that is scheduled to be announced on Monday. Will it contain a proposal to increase taxes or not? That is the question on the minds of legislators and interested groups.

Many education advocacy groups and the Big Tent Coalition (a broad coalition of social service groups) are pushing for a tax increase. In the House Transportation Committee, the Chair of former Governor Graves’ T-2000 Committee (the committee that proposed the Comprehensive Transportation Plan) stated that a tax increase would be necessary to get the transportation plan back on track.

Additionally, when Governor Sebelius toured the State last week to discuss the gravity of the state’s financial condition, many Kansans indicated that they would support an increase in taxes. Many believe that unless taxes are increased, cuts will have to be made in education and social services. While Governor Sebelius has stated that she doesn’t want to increase taxes, she has also firmly pledged not to cut education funding (K-12 and higher education).

Sebelius is clearly in a difficult political position. If she proposes raising taxes, she will be crucified by Republicans who will claim that she lied to the people of Kansas during the campaign. If she doesn’t propose a tax increase, many individuals and groups who supported Sebelius during her campaign will be upset with her. For a tax increase to be enacted by the Legislature, I believe it will have to be proposed by Sebelius. There are many Republicans who will vote for a tax increase, but they will only do it if she proposes it. Additionally, the likelihood of a tax increase passing the Legislature next year is remote since 2004 will be an election year.

The Transportation Committee has again heard testimony this week from proponents of the Comprehensive Transportation Plan that was enacted in 1999. The 10-year plan is under way but the State has raided its funds several times to make up budget shortfalls. Many highway contractors, municipalities, chambers of commerce and economic development groups fear that this practice of borrowing from the transportation budget will continue and thereby stifle completion of the plan. The Transportation Plan is an important part of the future of the Kansas economy. It creates jobs and provides a much needed stimulus to the economy. Its completion is very important, but we can’t spend what we don’t have. It is kind of paradox in that we can stimulate the Kansas economy with transportation spending, yet we don’t have the ability to do this because of the budget situation.

The Taxation Committee has finished its review of the state’s sales tax exemptions. So far, no action has been taken by the committee. It was thought that the committee would vote on a bill that would repeal all the exemptions and then an opportunity would be provided for exemptions to be added back into the bill. However, it doesn’t appear that the committee chairman is going to do this. The committee is likely to vote on a streamlined sales tax bill that would set the stage for an internet sales tax to be collected. But Congress must act before this is done.

Next week will be a busy week with many bills coming to the House floor. It appears that the House of Representatives may recess a week early and then add a week onto the veto session. This is probably a good idea because it is likely that the budget and tax debates will spill over into the veto session.