The Results Are In....

[Sleepr2]

5 minutes ago, SnowRider said:

What happened after California raised taxes and Kansas cut them

The state of California made some headlines last week when the latest economic data found that the Golden State’s economy is now the sixth largeston the planet, passing France and Brazil. It was a striking milestone just in terms of California’s sheer economic might.

 

But there was something else about the news with some political salience: when California raised taxes on the wealthy in 2012, creating one of the highest marginal tax rates in the country, conservatives were certain the state’s economy would take a severe hit. How’d that work out? The Washington Postreported the other day:

California grew just fine in the year the tax hikes took effect… California’s economy grew by 4.1 percent in 2015, according to new numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, tying it with Oregon for the fastest state growth of the year. That was up from 3.1 percent growth for the Golden State in 2014, which was near the top of the national pack.

At the same time, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) slashed taxes, leading conservatives to predict great things for the state’s economy. And yet, here we are.

The Kansas economy, on the other hand, grew 0.2 percent in 2015. That’s down from 1.2 percent in 2014, and below neighboring states such as Nebraska (2.1 percent) and Missouri (1.2 percent). Kansas ended the year with two consecutive quarters of negative growth – a shrinking economy. By a common definition of the term, the state entered 2016 in recession. […]

 

Kansas’s gross domestic product is still less than it was at the end of 2011, said Menzie Chinn, an economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has been following Kansas’s economy. Meanwhile, the economy in the rest of the country continues to expand.

In case it’s not obvious, California and Kansas don’t have much in common, and they have very different populations and industries. It wouldn’t be fair to evaluate the two solely on the basis of size.

 

But it is fair to note that conservatives’ predictions weren’t even close to being correct about these two states – though it hasn’t caused much in the way of introspection.

 

Mother Jones’ Kevin Drum noted the other day, “This, of course, has caused conservatives to think long and hard about their contention that cutting taxes on the rich and slashing bloated budgets will supercharge the economy. Haha. Just kidding. What they’ve actually done is either (a) ignore Kansas or (b) spend lots of time trying to dig up reasons that Kansas is a special case and would have done even worse if Brownback hadn’t stepped in. These reasons tend to be pretty ridiculous, but so far they’ve been good enough to keep the rubes in line. And that’s what matters, right?”

 

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/what-happened-after-california-raised-taxes-and-kansas-cut-them

Madcow

[SnowRider]

1 minute ago, Sleepr2 said:

Madcow

 FACT OR FICTION? Which is it dumb fuck  

California grew just fine in the year the tax hikes took effect… California’s economy grew by 4.1 percent in 2015, according to new numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, tying it with Oregon for the fastest state growth of the year. That was up from 3.1 percent growth for the Golden State in 2014, which was near the top of the national pack.

At the same time, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) slashed taxes, leading conservatives to predict great things for the state’s economy. And yet, here we are.

The Kansas economy, on the other hand, grew 0.2 percent in 2015. That’s down from 1.2 percent in 2014, and below neighboring states such as Nebraska (2.1 percent) and Missouri (1.2 percent). Kansas ended the year with two consecutive quarters of negative growth – a shrinking economy. By a common definition of the term, the state entered 2016 in recession. […]

 

[SnowRider]

 R Economics at work.  This is their Laffer philosophy on full display.  The results are  and the same thing happened on a larger scale under Ronny amd GWB. 

Kansas to borrow $900 million to cover next fiscal year

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and legislative leaders on Wednesday authorized a record $900 million in temporary borrowing to cover the state’s expenses through June 2017.

The State Finance Council, which is led by the Republican governor, voted 8-1 to loan the state’s main bank account the money from other, idle funds.

The move, known as a certificate of indebtedness, is one the state has used repeatedly to cover bills when cash is expected to run low. It’s similar to when a family borrows from a savings account or college fund to cover monthly bills because its checking account is temporarily short of funds between paychecks.

The only dissenting vote Wednesday was from Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, who believes the state is in a recession.

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“This isn’t the way I manage my finances. This isn’t the way I manage the finances of my business. . This is like me putting groceries on a charge card and praying that the money comes in,” Wagle said. “And now we’re being asked to cover our operation expenses on a certificate of debt and it’s not going stop unless you increase taxes or cut spending."

 

http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/kansas-to-borrow-900-million-to-cover-next-fiscal-year/

Edited June 23, 2016 by SnowRider

[SnowRider]

And with only eight days left in the fiscal year, he said, it is virtually impossible to make up that shortfall by ordering more spending cuts.

The measures announced Wednesday include:

• Delaying part of the final payment owed to public school districts at the end of this month, although he didn’t say how much, and rolling over that balance due to the first week of July.

• Sweeping $45 million out of a Medicaid fee fund held by the Department of Health and Environment.

• Sweeping the last remaining $16 million of general sales tax money out of the Kansas Department of Transportation’s highway fund.

• And cutting $3 million from the Department of Corrections, which he said will be able to make up the loss with increased federal funding.

“Obviously we don’t like doing any of these four things, but it’s the situation that we’re in for this fiscal year and what we have to deal with,” Sullivan said.

Even with those moves, Sullivan said, the state will end the fiscal year next week with only $5 million to $15 million in its general fund, which he said was the main reason for requesting increasing next years borrowing from idle funds to $900 million.

That form of temporary internal borrowing is officially known as a “certificate of indebtedness.” It involves moving money out of various fee funds and other agency assets into the state general fund in order to maintain a positive cash balance throughout the year.

http://hsrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A2KK_c.5Zm1XS4EAvhfO2FxH/RV=1/RE=1467997113/RH=aHNyZC55YWhvby5jb20-/RO=2/RU=aHR0cDovL3d3dzIubGp3b3JsZC5jb20vbmV3cy8yMDE2L2p1bi8yMi9icm93bmJhY2stb3JkZXJzLWVtZXJnZW5jeS1hY3Rpb25zLWZhY2UtYW5vdGhlci1sby8-/RS=^ADAEL8Vi1NSaMfCDCfLSQ6TVJLAxZ8-

 

[Rod]

Comparing the finances of two vastly different states is asinine. Geographical location and natural resources are huge. 

[SnowRider]

[SnowRider]

Rob Peter to pay Paul....

The Supreme Court ruled last month that the education funding system remains unfair to poor schools, despite three rounds of changes over the past three years.

The court is considering separately whether Kansas spends enough overall on its schools — and could rule by early next year. Brownback and GOP legislative leaders already have committed to overhauling the education funding system next year.

The state's fiscal woes complicated education funding issues. Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since GOP lawmakers slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging to stimulate the economy. State tax collections have fallen short of expectations 10 of the 12 past months, something the governor blames on slumps in agriculture, energy production and aircraft manufacturing.

The plan approved Friday taps motor vehicle fees, dips into the state's share of a national legal settlement with tobacco companies in the 1990s and captures funds from selling off the assets of a state economic development agency to private investors.

http://hsrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A2KLthXoX25XAtUApyjO2FxH/RV=1/RE=1468060905/RH=aHNyZC55YWhvby5jb20-/RO=2/RU=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cueWFob28uY29tL25ld3MvZ29wLWxlYWRlcnMtbG9vay1wYXNzLXNjaG9vbHMtcGxhbi1rYW5zYXMtbGVnaXNsYXR1cmUtMDQ1OTU4Mjc1Lmh0bWw-/RS=^ADA8D3ndFW6uIa0gVu1KWjC7sbAjOY-

Edited June 25, 2016 by SnowRider

[Rod]

Poor rump rider doesn't get dollars man

[SnowRider]

.  Trickled on utopia in a stated dominated by R's ain't going so well...

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A top Senate leader and at least 10 other conservative Kansas legislators have lost their seats as moderate Republicans made GOP primary races a referendum on education funding and the state's persistent budget woes.

Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce was among the lawmakers ousted amid a backlash against Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and his allies.

The voting occurred against the backdrop not only of the state's fiscal woes but ongoing legal and political disputes over funding for public schools. The state Supreme Court could rule by the end of the year on whether the Legislature is shorting schools on their state aid by hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since the GOP-dominated Legislature slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging to stimulate the economy. That's created concerns among educators about future spending on schools, even as many Republicans see the $4 billion-plus a year the state now spends as generous.

Bruce, from Nickerson, fell in his south-central Kansas district to Ed Berger, former president of Hutchinson Community College.

Bruce was a particular target because of his visibility as the Senate's No. 2 leader. He also had disagreements with the Senate's top leader, President Susan Wagle, of Wichita. Bruce is closer to Brownback than Wagle is.

"He seemed to care more about what the Brownback administration wanted rather than what the people he represented wanted," said Mary Dondlinger, an 80-year-old retired Hutchinson teacher and Republican who voted for Berger.

Five other conservative senators lost in races that spanned the state. So did five conservative House members, all of them from affluent Kansas City-area suburbs in Johnson County, the state's most populous, where voters have cherished good public schools for decades.

Wagle issued a statement saying that while some statistics show a better economy in Kansas — Brownback and his aides cite low unemployment, for example — such data "do not reflect how everyday Kansans view the direction of the state."

Bruce leaned partly on his record as a strong advocate of gun rights, having been the key backer of successful legislation to allow Kansans to carry concealed weapons without a state permit. Steve Brady, a 54-year-old Hutchinson business owner, said he voted for Bruce because he "is doing more positive things."

But the primary results suggested many Republicans were unhappy.

"Too many Kansans still feel that the sun is not rising for them and their families, despite what some leaders tell them," Wagle said.

Besides Bruce, the conservative senators who were unseated were Tom Arpke, of Salina; Forrest Knox, of Altoona; Jeff Melcher, of Leawood; Larry Powell, of Garden City; and Greg Smith, of Overland Park. All are Brownback allies.

Some Brownback critics focused more on the Republican primary for House seats. Ousting conservatives would further their goal of building a governing coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats on key education and budget issues.

The House conservatives who lost Republican primaries were Rob Bruchman, of Leawood; Brett Hildabrand, of Shawnee; Jerry Lunn, of Overland Park; Charles Macheers, of Shawnee; and Craig McPherson, of Overland Park.

Three other conservative Republicans trailed, but their races were close. They were Will Carpenter, of El Dorado; Kasha Kelley, of Arkansas City; and Connie O'Brien, of Tonganoxie.

Democratic Rep. Ben Scott, of Topeka, lost his seat to a former state lawmaker and Topeka-area political veteran, Vic Miller. The district has no GOP candidate in November.

___

Associated Press writer Roxana Hegeman contributed to this report from Hutchinson.

___

Follow John Hanna on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apjdhanna .

[SnowRider]

This is an excellent thread.  Racer - your thoughts on the Kansas backlash against the staple of R economics 

 

GOP governor's allies suffer in backlash in Kansas primary

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Gov. Sam Brownback assured the public that the income tax cuts he championed would stimulate the Kansas economy, supply plenty of money for schools and give other states a "pro-growth" policy model to follow.

But voters, including many Republicans, appear to have rejected that idea in the face of budget woes and court battles over education funding. On Tuesday, they ousted 11 of the conservative governor's allies in favor of more centrist candidates.

The GOP incumbents who lost in the primary included the Senate's majority leader. Another three conservative House members were trailing Wednesday in still-undecided races.

"It's a mandate when you see the incumbents that supported the policies that have us in the position that we're in today," said John Skubal, a city council member in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, who defeated a conservative state senator. "The people are saying they don't work."

Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since the GOP-dominated Legislature slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging. That created concerns among educators about future spending on schools, even as many Republicans regarded the $4 billion-plus a year the state now spends as generous.

Mark Zrubek, a Republican store manager in Hutchinson, said he voted against Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce because he wanted a change.

"I don't like the way policies are going," Zrubek said after voting for the eventual winner, former Hutchinson Community College President Ed Berger.

Some Republicans have admitted that Brownback's tax cuts failed to bring as much growth as expected. The governor contends that regional and national economic trends such as slumps in agriculture and energy production are offsetting the benefits of the tax cuts.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/gop-governors-allies-suffer-backlash-kansas-primary-214037890.html

[SnowRider]

Where's that fucking trickle 

Kansas tax collections fall $45M short of mark in September

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas collected nearly $45 million less in taxes than expected in September, complicating the state's budget picture five weeks before an election in which Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's fiscal policies are a major issue in legislative races.

The state Department of Revenue reported Monday that tax collections were $521 million, or 7.9 percent short of the official projection of $566 million. It's the fifth consecutive month Kansas has missed its revenue targets; the state faces at least a small shortfall in its current $15.5 billion budget and potential spending cuts for the next fiscal year beginning in July 2017.

Brownback and his top aides blame disappointing tax collections on slumps in parts of the economy that affect many states, including agriculture and energy production. But Kansas also has struggled to meet its revenue targets and balance its budget since GOP legislators slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging as an economic stimulus.

The governor is term-limited, but his political allies face a potential backlash. Fourteen GOP conservatives lost their seats in the August primary, and Democrats hope to cut into Republican supermajorities in both chambers in the Nov. 8 election. If they do, they and GOP moderates could form governing coalitions that attempt to roll back key Brownback tax policies.

"Constituents, you know, they know our budget's unstable," said state Sen. Jim Denning, an Overland Park Republican who initially supported the tax cuts but has since criticized the governor. "The Brownback headwind is real."

Since the current budget year began July 1, the state's tax collections have fallen a total of $68 million short of expectations, for a shortfall of 4.7 percent. The state now faces a shortfall in its current budget of about $60 million, and the gap would grow if Kansas kept missing its revenue projections.

Collections of sales, corporate income and personal income taxes all fell short of expectations in September.

Steve Stotts, the Department of Revenue's taxation director, said sales tax revenues are softest in rural counties relying on agriculture and oil production, suggesting people there are pulling back on their buying because they're not sure about how much money they'll have.

Personal income tax collections exceeded the state's expectations in July and August, and even with September's drop-off are running ahead of last year's collections. A federal report last week said total personal income in Kansas grew 1.2 percent from the first quarter of this year to the second quarter, better than the national figure.

"We've got kind of a mixed bag right now," Stotts said.

Brownback's critics continue to blame his fiscal policies, particularly one exempting more than 330,000 farmers and business owners from paying personal income taxes.

Tax collections have fallen short of expectations in 32 of the 45 months — or 71 percent of the time — since the first income tax reductions championed by Brownback took effect in January 2013. Brownback's budget director is having a news conference Tuesday to outline proposals he says will make revenue projections more accurate.

"The two things, it seems like, where the state has consistently had difficulty making projections on, is No. 1, when you've got a recession and, two, when you've got major tax policy changes," Brownback told reporters during his last news conference.

But in the 45 months before the first Brownback-era tax cuts took effect, the state exceeded its monthly projections 24 times, even as it struggled with the aftermath of the Great Recession.

"Anybody who has a couple of brain cells in their head knows that it's not good politics to say anything good about Brownback," said Tucker Poling, a Prairie Village attorney and the Johnson County Democratic Party's vice chairman.

http://www.windstream.net/news/read/category/News/article/the_associated_press-kansas_tax_collections_fall_45m_short_of_mark_in_s-ap