TOPEKA ? Income tax cuts that are being blamed for a deep state budget deficit were the work of the Legislature and not the governor’s office, Gov. Sam Brownback told a group of business leaders this week.

Speaking at the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce’s annual luncheon on Thursday, Brownback appeared to put ground between himself and tax cuts he signed when commenting on a projected budget gap of $280 million this fiscal year and $436 million in the next one.

“I proposed a flat tax with a small budget accelerator. What I got from the Legislature was a naked tax cut with none of the pay-fors,” Brownback said. “I took it because it was the best we were going to get.”

Brownback initially sought a different approach to cutting taxes, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported, and said state government would require “pruning” to make the budget work.

But he didn’t express the same reservations he showed during his speech Thursday.

“Today’s legislation will create tens of thousands of new jobs and help make Kansas the best place in America to start and grow a small business,” Brownback said on the day he signed the first round of tax cuts in May 2012.

At the start of 2014, the governor remained confident when the state announced record revenues. But Brownback’s message became more cautious as the campaign season rolled around, assuring voters the state’s policies would produce prosperity if they stayed patient.

“We’ve done this now for three years in the face of people saying you can’t do this,” he said at a January 2014 news conference. “There have been a number of naysayers on the other side of the aisle (saying) this is not going to work, and it is working.”

Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, said Brownback proposed cutting other deductions to pay for his tax policies, but those targeted mortgage interest, rebates on sales tax paid on food and other provisions that are important to low-income and elderly people.

The governor can’t avoid responsibility for the state’s budget crisis, Hensley said.

“He has spent the last year in the campaign bragging about this experiment,” he said. “He has spent the last several months trying to convince voters this was good for Kansas.”