Topeka ? A proposed constitutional amendment to make it more difficult to raise state taxes was sidetracked Wednesday.

The measure would have required a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate to increase taxes or establish a new tax.

But it quickly got amended with large majorities of House members voting to exempt the super majority requirement if the tax increases were for education, highways and social services. Those areas compose most of state spending.

“We’re spending money faster than it can be printed,” said Rep. Jason Watkins, R-Wichita.

Opponents of the measure said the proposed constitutional amendment would hamstring government’s ability to respond to emergencies or needed increases in social service caseloads, such as Medicaid expenses for people in nursing homes, and that it would push tax increases onto local governments.

They also said the current system of requiring simple majorities in the Legislature for tax increases has worked well. Legislators can then face the voters for their decisions, they said.

After the proposal was essentially junked, it was referred back to the House Appropriations Committee on a 63-57 vote.

Alan Cobb, head of the Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which has pushed for the proposed constitutional amendment, said the votes would figure in the upcoming election. The group has been active recently in campaign postcards.

“It is disappointing that there are so many legislators who don’t want to make it more difficult to raise taxes,” he said.