April 1, 2022

It was an intense week in the Kansas Legislature, ending on April Fool’s Day.  It turned out the joke was on legislators who had worked diligently just to be shut down.  Friday around 1:30 am, the House Majority Leader made a motion to adjourn until April 25^th at 11 am. – leaving several items to be addressed in Veto Session, including removing state sales tax on food, K-12 funding, and other issues.  The Senate President worked diligently to complete our work in regular session and not leave it to do in Veto Session.  I applaud his efforts and did what I could to support taxpayers in producing some great tax relief for Kansans.

Tax bills that passed either chamber could be worked in the Tax Conference Committee.  It was difficult this year because the House did not debate one tax bill on the House floor.  Conference committees are about negotiating to find common ground with the other chamber on bills that have passed both chambers in different forms.  It’s difficult to negotiate when the House hasn’t voted on these items.  However, the House was willing to accept a majority of Senate positions and we negotiated some tax relief policy for Kansans.

There were three tax Conference Committee Reports (CCRs) negotiated.  The first, CCR 2239, had several provisions: a property tax freeze via an income tax rebate for low-income seniors and disabled veterans; up to $250 tax credit for teachers who purchased school supplies with their own money; over $40 million in property tax relief – presently there is a $20,000 exemption on the valuation of the 20 mil of property taxes for K-12, this legislation would increase the exemption to $40,000 and increase it each year based on inflation – it hasn’t been increased since 1997; removing state sales tax on delivery and postage costs; exempting sales tax on fencing materials for agriculture; allowing county commissioners an option to abate property taxes on property destroyed by a natural disaster; creating a tax credit program for donors to technical and community colleges, capped at $5 million a year; making the sales tax exemption on vehicle manufacturer rebates permanent; and many other tax provisions.  The House would not accept all of this good tax policy unless a provision to create a taxing authority in Shawnee County for the Zoo, Gage Park, and Discovery Center was included.  The Senate accepted the offer since it would be voted on by the people of Shawnee County.  We didn’t want to lose all of the good Senate tax positions and good tax policy for Kansans.  It passed the Senate unanimously and the House 103 to 10.  Hopefully, the Governor will not veto the CCR.  If she does, it appears we have the votes to override a veto.

The other two tax CCRs,  2106 and 2597, are still in play and will hopefully be passed in Veto Session.  CCR 2106 would remove state sales tax on groceries within three years. Starting January 1, it would decrease from 6.5% to 4%, in 2024 it would drop to 2%, and in 2025 it would go to 0%.  Groceries means that prepared foods would not be included.  Beginning January 1^st would provide time for vendors to implement the sales tax reduction.  You may think it is simple to implement, but an example is rotisserie chicken at the grocery store is cooked and ready to eat, so you would think it is prepared food and not exempt.  However, according to the Department of Revenue, it would be exempt unless utensils to eat the chicken were provided.  It would have been simpler to remove state sales tax from all edible items, but a majority of legislators would not support that effort.  Another tax bill negotiated but delayed until veto session was CCR 2597.  It had several tax cuts to help Kansans.  There are too many to name but a few items included are: gradually removing all state income tax on Social Security and decreasing it on other retirement accounts, increasing standard deductions, and removing state sales tax on commercial electric and other utilities, matching the residential exemption.

As chairman of the Senate Tax Committee, I was able to develop and work with others to pass tax cuts – including property tax relief for homeowners.  There is still work to do in lowering  income taxes and removing sales tax on food.

It is an honor and a privilege to serve as your 12^th District State Senator.

Caryn