Kansas lawmakers return to Topeka with a $2 billion-plus surplus and competing ideas on how to spend it. 

Republicans want things the state’s Democratic governor is sure to veto, and Democrats don’t have the legislative clout to pass their plans.

The Beacon asked Republican and Democratic leadership what their priorities are for this session, which starts this month. 

Here’s what they said: 

Income tax cuts

The Republican-controlled Legislature tried to pass a flat tax on income last year. The state’s current income tax rates have three tiers, 3.1%, 5.25% and 5.7%. The more you make, the higher the percentage of your income that’s taxed. 

Last year, Republicans proposed changing that to a 5.15% rate for everyone making more than $6,150 a year. That flat rate would lower what the state collects in taxes by about $330 million a year. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the plan, saying it busts the state’s budget and favors only the wealthiest Kansans. 

Republicans want to pass a flat tax in the first few weeks of the session. They argue that everyone benefits because everyone gets a tax cut. 

The governor is not interested. 

“It is a throwback to the Brownback tax experiment, and we all know how that turned out,” Kelly told reporters in 2023. “Any tax cut we pass needs to be sustainable, fiscally responsible and targeted to the people who need it the most.”

Other tax cuts

Lawmakers also want to cut property and Social Security taxes. 

Last session, they bundled multiple tax cuts into a few bills. The governor vetoed them all.

Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins of Wichita told The Topeka Capital-Journal in October that a constitutional amendment to limit property tax increases will be brought “to the floor immediately at the start of next session.”

One proposed constitutional amendment would limit all increases to 4% in a year, unless the property is renovated or loses exemption status, among other criteria. Kelly wouldn’t be able to veto a proposed constitutional amendment, but it would need to pass a statewide vote.

Rep. Vic Miller of Topeka, the Democratic minority leader in the House, said Democrats are also eyeing property tax relief. Kansas used to allocate state funds to local governments to help municipalities keep property taxes low. That money was sent to a speciality fund called the local ad valorem tax reduction fund. Then the state’s budget got tight decades ago and funding to that program stopped. 

Miller wants to again use state general funds to pay local governments to keep property taxes low.

“Now that the state is flush with money, we think the best thing to do with the surpluses (is) … use it directly for tax relief,” he said. “And in this case, to actually go back to what we used to do when we were using it for that very purpose.” 

Miller said he’d also like to raise the tax exemptions on homes. Currently, the first $42,000 of appraised value is exempt. Miller wants to raise that to $100,000. Raising exemptions and reallocating state funds could cost $100 million each. 

Medicaid

The governor spent the past few months touring the state to push for Medicaid expansion. She’s proposed tying Medicaid expansion with work requirements and even said the cost of expanding medical coverage would be offset by a hospital fee, drug rebates and federal funds. 

The federal government covers 90% of expansion costs. The remaining 10% is covered by the state, and Kelly said that portion will be paid for with “savings from higher reimbursement rates for existing Medicaid recipients” and additional federal funding.

In the Statehouse, support for Medicaid expansion largely falls along party lines, although some Republicans back Kelly’s plan. However, passing expansion this session is a long shot because key Republicans say it will cost too much. 

“As she continues to make false promises, House Republicans will be working on legitimate ways to improve health care access, lower costs and address the (intellectual/developmental disability) waiver waitlist,” Hawkins said in a press release. 

Child care

Republicans and Democrats want to fix the state’s stifling child care shortage. 

Advocates are optimistic lawmakers will invest more money into child care programs. Depending how the state invests, that could create a more generous child care subsidy and help businesses grow. 

There’s also some interest in stripping back more restrictions on child care centers and in-home providers. The hope is that fewer regulations would let businesses grow organically.