Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins says his fellow Republicans feel "upbeat" heading into the 2025 Kansas legislative session.
Kansas Republicans managed to expand their supermajorities in both the state House and Senate, allowing them to pass bills without fear of a veto from Democratic Governor Laura Kelly.
Hawkins says the GOP's top priority will be cutting property taxes. Laura Kelly vetoed four proposed tax cuts last session. Hawkins hopes Republican lawmakers will override the Governor's veto in 2025.
"We had $3 billion in the bank and another $1.9 billion in a rainy day fund, and we can't give property tax relief, that was just ridiculous," Hawkins says.
Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson tells KCUR's Up To Date he would like to see a constitutional amendment setting property tax caps.
"We'd like to get the state just out of property tax altogether," Masterson says.
Masterson says he has "no concern at all" tjat the proposed tax cuts would impact education funding, like Kansas saw with former Gov. Sam Brownback's tax policy. Hawkins is even confident Democrats will cross the aisle to support cuts.
"There are going to be some Democrats that will certainly follow the governor, but there's going to be some that are a little bit more independent minded that realize that it is a very important thing for the people of Kansas," Hawkins says.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes says that while she agrees Kansans need property tax relief, her fellow Democrats are wary of potential tax cuts.
"We want to make sure that something is, first of all, sustainable, it's not going to put us in a hole in the next four years," Sykes says.
Newly-elected House Minority Lader Brandon Woodard says that Democrats need to be "better messengers" as a super-minority.
"You find those little wins and you build relationships," Woodard says. "Our business is all about building relationships."
- Dan Hawkins, Kansas House Speaker
- Ty Masterson, Kansas Senate President
- Dinah Sykes, Kansas Senate minority leader
- Brandon Woodard, Kansas House minority leader
