The Kansas Senate voted to remove all state and local sales taxes on food next year, in a last-minute reversal of an earlier proposal to curtail sales tax reductions for unhealthy food.
Senate President Ty Masterson’s “broader picture” for tax policy changes came into focus Monday with a plan that involves rolling back tax relief on food so the state can afford to cut income taxes for the highest wage earners.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly wants to accelerate the phaseout of the state’s food sales tax. That could have the greatest impact on people with low incomes. But Republican lawmakers may not feel the need to do it.
Gov. Laura Kelly initiated a campaign Monday to convince the Republican-led Legislature the revenue surplus was sufficient to end the state sales tax on groceries by April 1, create a three-day sales tax holiday on school supplies and increase the state income tax exemption on Social Security benefits.
A Kansas bill providing a multiyear, staggered elimination of the state sales tax on food moved a step closer Wednesday to becoming law.
A revised economic forecast for Kansas projects the state will collect $407.8 million more than previously expected in the upcoming fiscal year, adding to a budget surplus that could be used to eliminate the 6.5% state sales tax on food.
Dylan Lysen / Kansas News Service
Efforts to eliminate the 6.5% sales tax on food have the support of the leading candidates for governor, but the change has hit some political hurdles nonetheless.
One of two Kansas bills eliminating the state sales tax on food and groceries raised concerns in a Senate committee Tuesday over what potential hits to the state highway fund and local and county economies mean for the long-term viability of the tax cut.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Tuesday used her annual State of the State address to propose eliminating the sales tax on food with a simple 13-word phrase, freezing college tuition rates, investing in law enforcement, and funding a state water plan abandoned by previous administrations.
August Rudisell / The Lawrence Times
Bipartisan proposals to cut or reduce the state sales tax on groceries will help Kansans who are forced to choose between food and other basic needs, an advocate says.
