Category: Kansas Legislature

Kansas lawmakers consider using state’s surplus to cut Social Security taxes

Kansas projected to have millions in surplus for next fiscal year

by Rachel Mipro, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — Kansas legislators want to use a projected budget surplus to address the state’s “Social Security cliff,” which they say is driving retirees out of the state.

Kansas taxes income from Social Security benefits, with an income tax exemption for those who make $75,000 in federal adjusted gross income or less. Critics of the tax policy say retirees are put under unnecessary financial strain.

During Friday’s legislative hearing on taxation, Sen. Caryn Tyson, R-Parker, said she supported removing state income tax on Social Security entirely. Tyson and other lawmakers have tried to pass legislation on this subject for the past few years.

Most recently, lawmakers tried to pass House Bill 2597 in 2022, which would have exempted several thousand dollars in retirement plan income and provided for that amount to annually increase by the Internal Revenue Code cost of living adjustment.

“All the committee members, we definitely made an attempt, a great attempt, to address this last year and in previous years,” Tyson said. “If there’s any type of tax on social security that plays into it and discourages people at different levels to not work. We engineer behavior through our tax structure.”

With Kansas carrying a record surplus of more than $2 billion this fiscal year and a surplus of $400 million expected next year, lawmakers are trying to decide what to do with the extra money.

Surplus estimates for the 2023-2024 state general fund were produced by the Division of the Budget and Kansas Legislative Research Department using a consensus process. The governor and the Legislature use these estimates when making the annual budget and spending blueprint.

For the 2023 fiscal year, the estimate increased in November from previous estimates made in April by $794.2 million. Total tax estimates increased by $773 million, and other revenue estimates increased by $21.2 million, making the revised estimate for the 2023 fiscal year $9.701 billion.

The initial estimate for fiscal year 2024 is $10.124 billion, a 4.4% increase from the 2023 fiscal year estimate. The amount of total taxes is estimated to increase by 0.9%, following an increase in 2023.

Gov. Laura Kelly campaigned for reelection on a platform of more quickly eliminating Kansas’ 6.5% sales tax on groceries, fully funding special education and working to reduce the Social Security income tax cliff. Kelly’s budget will be released in January, and it’s expected that some of these issues will be addressed in the budget.

Sen. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, said Social Security issues needed to be a priority in the upcoming legislative session.

“As far as it comes with Social Security, I am very interested in addressing the cliff issue,” Holland said. “That’s a real problem to me, for people who have paid into Social Security, particularly for those who are seniors who don’t have other additional sources of income. I think it’s imperative that they get access to those funds.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/11/22/kansas-lawmakers-consider-using-states-surplus-to-cut-social-security-taxes/

Kansas Legislature predicted to be even more conservative

Views

Opinion column

by Murrel Bland

It appears that the Kansas Legislature will be even more conservative next year.

That was the opinion of John Federico, a lobbyist who spoke Friday, Oct. 21, at a meeting of the Congressional Forum at Children’s Mercy Park in Village West. About 50 persons attended. The forum is a division of the Kansas City, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce. Federico represents the chamber in Topeka.

Federico said his organization will have as many 12 persons monitoring the efforts of the Legislature once it begins its 2023 session next January.

The chamber is developing its 2023 Legislative Agenda. As it does, it celebrates its victories from the 2022 session.

Those victories include food sales tax reduction, tax credits for the restoration and preservation of commercial abandoned structures, tax credits for child care, sportsbook gaming, property tax reduction for the elderly and storefront property tax relief because of COVID-19.

One of the major issues which did not pass was Medicaid expansion. Federico said a couple a weeks ago, he would not have predicted the expansion would not pass; however recently he said there may be hope of it in 2023.

Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the recording secretary of Business West.

Poll: 72% of Kansans back Medicaid reform stalled by GOP legislators since 2017

Kelly to again seek Medicaid reform, Schmidt remains expansion skeptic

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — A majority of Kansans across the political spectrum endorse expansion of eligibility for Medicaid in a statewide survey also indicating nine in 10 registered voters believe a candidate’s position on health care influenced votes at the polls.

Kansas is among a dozen states declining to broaden access among lower-income people to affordable health coverage under Medicaid. Expansion legislation in Kansas was vetoed in 2017 by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and the GOP-led Senate blocked a vote on a House-passed bill in 2019. Expansion states include Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska.

The issue emerged in the campaign for Kansas governor with Gov. Laura Kelly promising to introduce a fifth Medicaid expansion proposal in January if reelected. Republican gubernatorial nominee Derek Schmidt spoke in opposition to substantive enhancement of eligibility for Medicaid.

The poll released by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, or ACSCAN, of 500 likely Kansas voters showed support to be almost universal among Democrats with backing from majorities of both Republicans and independents.

In the poll, 72% of Kansans favored expanding opportunities for Kansans to participate in KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program. The political breakdown in terms of those favoring reform: Democrats, 98%; independents, 64%; and Republicans, 56%.

The poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research Associates showed 87% of respondents considered health care a pivotal issue in political elections. The poll for ACSCAN had a 4.3% margin of error.

“Kansans clearly understand the importance of affordable health coverage and want their lawmakers to take action to expand KanCare,” said Megan Word, who works for ACSCAN. “Voters want Kansas to join the 38 other states who have expanded their Medicaid program and they are paying close attention this election season.”

The number of Kansans potentially benefitting from a state law deepening eligibility for the Affordable Care Act has ranged from 120,000 to 150,000. The federal government would be obligated to pay 90% of the increased cost in Kansas.

In the poll, 81% said all Kansans regardless of income, location, race, gender or immigration status ought to have affordable health care.

Kelly, who is seeking a second term in the Nov. 8 election, said during the latest gubernatorial debate in Overland Park that expansion of Medicaid to the underserved would be the most significant health policy change she could champion as governor.

“I have proposed four different expansion approaches,” said Kelly, who claimed Republicans undermined Medicaid bills because the reform was among her top priorities as governor. “I will propose my fifth in January. I think the fact that I never will be on the ballot again can take politics out of it.”

Schmidt said conservative leadership of the House and Senate wouldn’t step aside to allow a Medicaid expansion bill reach Kelly’s desk. He also criticized Kelly for not convincing a GOP majority in the Legislature to approve expansion in her first term.

“It makes a good thing to talk about in the middle of an election,” Schmidt said of Kelly’s advocacy. “At the end of the day, the Kansas Legislature, if anything like its current composition, is not going to go that direction in terms of public policy.”

He said Kansas should focus on retaining the three for-profit insurance companies under contract to operate the privatized KanCare system during a period of inflation in the national economy. He said he would consider modest changes to KanCare such as the 2022 bill signed by Kelly extending Medicaid coverage to new mothers.

Kansas Reflector, www.kansasreflector.com, stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/10/10/poll-72-of-kansans-back-medicaid-reform-stalled-by-gop-legislators-since-2017/