without cutting spending to match. It was pure trickle down theory. They cut taxes on LLC pass through income to zero -- thus allowing the biggest earners to pay next to no taxes at all. Bill Self as an example pays zero taxes on over $3 million in annual income as the money is paid to his LLC and then distributed to him. Basically the tax burden got shifted almost entirely to the middle/upper middle class (and in some instances the working class). The budget shortfalls have been far worse than they predicted and they have had to rob millions (and that word doesn't describe the amount well) from the highway fund (cancelling almost all highway projects), a huge amount from university funding and and other reserves to try to balance the budget (as required). They also raised taxes on cigarettes and booze in a farcical attempt to make up some of the difference. Every quarter there is a huge shortfall -- and the ratings services have downgraded Kansas bonds as a result of their inability to predict revenues accurately. As a result, borrowing costs are going up. They don't have enough money to fund the public schools to the extent required by the Kansas Constitution -- and, as a result, the Kansas Supreme court is threatening to close the schools down. It is a shame because the public school system here is very good otherwise.

It has been an unmitigated disaster. If the democrats has not idiotically run a very liberal candidate against him in the last election instead of a moderate, he would not have won reelection. Of course it also helped brownback that the budget office did not reveal the by then enormous revenue shortfall until the week after the election. He is hated by most republicans now.



[Post edited by KCHoo at 06/07/2016 12:56PM]