Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has delivered her promised veto of a Republican tax cut plan featuring a flat tax.
“I support responsible tax cuts, but I refuse to sign into law a reckless flat tax that would take us back to Brownback while doing next to nothing for the middle class,” Kelly said in a Friday statement. “This flat tax experiment would overwhelmingly benefit the super wealthy, and I’m not going to put our public schools, roads, and stable economy at risk just to give a break to those at the very top.”
Republicans have made a single-rate income tax, also known as a flat tax, a top priority this session. A flat tax is a nonstarter for Democrats, who view it as primarily benefiting the wealthy.
Republican leadership bundled that controversial item with several bipartisan proposals into House Bill 2284 and called it a compromise, even after kicking Democrats off the conference committee. But they have also taken credit for each of the pieces, calling them all Republican ideas.
Using a shell bill in the conference committee process also meant lawmakers circumvented the normal legislative process in order to create the HB 2284 package and fast-track it. No hearings with public comment were held on the bill.