A review of studies on illegal immigration by the Kansas Legislature’s staff has concluded that the jury is still out on whether illegal immigration is a gain or loss to taxpayers. “The number of comprehensive studies that have been done to look at costs and revenues attributable to illegal immigrants is too few to allow us to make any definite conclusions about whether they result in a net gain or loss for state and local governments,” the report by the Legislative Division of Post Audit said.Many studies note that illegal immigrants can increase government costs in education, health care, and public safety, but many studies also note that illegal immigrants pay taxes that help offset those costs, the Post Audit report stated.One of the most comprehensive studies done on the subject — conducted by the Texas Comptroller’s Office — concluded that if the illegal immigrant population were removed, it would have a negative effect on the Texas economy.On the issue of whether illegal immigrants drive down wages, the audit concluded that studies indicate they do reduce wages for lower-skilled workers but didn’t adversely affect higher-skilled wages of native-born workers.Lawmakers battled during the last legislative session on a bill aimed at reducing illegal immigration in Kansas, but the measure failed. The Legislature then pushed for an audit to help determine the costs to Kansas of illegal immigration. But the Post Audit staff said there weren’t enough good statistics to provide a valid study, so lawmakers instead ordered auditors to review existing research