NFIB: Report Confirms 2012 Tax Cuts Put Kansas Back on Track
TOPEKA, Jan. 21, 2016–Dan Murray, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, released the following statement today in response to strong showing by Kansas in the 8th edition of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s “Rich States, Poor States” report, released today:
“Kansas in general, and Governor Brownback, in particular, have taken a lot of heat the past few years over its decision to cut taxes in 2012, but ALEC’s report supports what small business has been saying all along, that Kansas is clearly on the right track. Kansas is No. 18 in the ALEC-Laffer State Economic Outlook Rankings for 2015. That’s a big improvement from the 2012 rankings, when we were 26th.” [Download the report here.]
The report says: “Though the full effects of Kansas’ bold tax reform will take years to materialize, the early signs are vastly more encouraging than critics would have the public believe.”
It says, “With a relatively close re-election bid, a record-length legislative session and a large tax increase, it would not be unreasonable for an outside observer to assume the worst about the 2012 Kansas tax reforms. These facts miss the larger picture, however, as the 2012 tax reforms were never intended to simply supply larger revenues to a growing government. Rather, the intent from the start was always to boost the Kansas economy and provide greater opportunity for the citizens of Kansas.”
The report cites a 2014 Creighton University report that found that, since the fourth quarter of 2012, the state had enjoyed a growth rate of 2.92 percent in personal income, well ahead of the national average of 2.85 percent and better than every border state except Colorado. Kansas also leads the region in private sector job growth; its growth of 1.9 percent is better than any of its neighboring states except Colorado, according to the Kansas Policy Institute.
Murray said politicians who want to roll back the 2012 tax cuts are simply wrong. “Rolling back those tax cuts would be the same as passing a tax increase on small businesses, and Kansas can’t afford that,” Murray said.
Governor Brownback said, “Our tax policy is working as evidenced by job creation, low unemployment, increases in wages for working Kansans, and people moving off of welfare and into self-sufficiency. Small businesses are the major job creators in Kansas. Increasing taxes on small business is not the answer to growing the Kansas economy.”
NFIB/Kansas is the state’s leading small-business association, with over 4,000 dues-paying members representing a cross section of the state’s economy. To learn more, visit www.NFIB.com/KS<http://www.nfib.com/KS> or follow @NFIB_KS on Twitter.