A Senate Committee has delayed work on Governor Sam Brownback's tax proposal. A printing mix-up meant the scheduled debate was left off the official Senate calendar, but the committee's chairman says he didn't want to work on the tax plan without letting the public know about it.
The committee was scheduled to debate the bill and offer amendments. In Statehouse lingo, that’s called “working” the bill. Wichita Republican Les Donovan chairs the Senate Tax Committee. He says they’ll benefit from the extra time to prepare.
“There’s still a lot of parts that aren’t bolted down tightly, here. We need to make sure that we get these all in place and get everybody comfortable with it,” says Donovan.
The proposal would cut income tax rates and eliminate some tax deductions. It would also make permanent a temporary sales tax increase that’s set to expire later this year. Democratic Senator Anthony Hensley says the delay shows support for the bill is faltering. But Donovan says that’s not why the debate was delayed.
“We have not polled the committee or anything like that, so we don’t know that. I don’t think that’s the case at all. So don’t look at that as why we’re doing this, because that’s not the reason,” says Donovan.
The committee could take action on the bill later this week or next week.
