Tagged: Sam Brownback

At his annual State of the State address on Wednesday night, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback advocated a plan to cut taxes for roughly 1.6 million Kansans. 

He also outlined a plan to change the way Kansas public schools are funded, and called for the Kansas Legislature to fix the Sunflower State's state employee pension plan.

Democrats in the Kansas Legislature have unveiled a school funding plan as an alternative to the one introduced by Governor Sam Brownback.

The Democratic plan would increase school funding with the goal of restoring some of the cuts made in recent years. It would also provide about $45 million to help reduce local property taxes.

Representative Paul Davis of Lawrence is the top Democrat in the House. He says budget cuts to education in recent years have had a significant impact on schools.

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Democrats in the legislature are introducing 14 bills they say will spur job growth and career training in Kansas.

The plans include speeding up a 10 year transportation plan, so jobs are created sooner. The legislation would also give businesses a tax credit for training apprentices.

House Minority Leader Paul Davis, a Lawrence Democrat, says he hopes the plan won’t get mired in partisan politics.

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Kansas school districts are digesting a sweeping school finance plan proposed today by Governor Sam Brownback.

He promises no district will lose state funds via the proposal, which is designed to give local boards a freer hand in spending. It would also allow districts to raise property taxes.

The property tax cap, set by state law, would be removed under the Brownback plan, which would go into effect in July 2013. President of the Shawnee Mission School Board Craig Denny was struck by that and another provision.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback spelled out the details of his school finance overhaul Wednesday. It would allow local taxpayers to raise property taxes as high as they wanted for education. Currently, school districts can only raise  a limited amount of funding from property taxes: a maximum of 30 percent of the funding they receive from the state.