The first order of business for Kansas lawmakers when they return to the Statehouse next week will be closing an almost $1 billion hole in this and next year's budgets. House Majority Leader Don Hineman says that will likely require both spending cuts and tax increases. The Dighton Republican says an income tax surcharge is one of the possibilities.
Conservative Republican Governor Sam Brownback and lawmakers who support the income tax cuts he championed in 2012 are likely to oppose the idea. But Hineman and some other moderate Republicans say a temporary income tax boost would be fairer to low and moderate income Kansans than another increase in the sales tax.
