TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate has rejected a bill for raising taxes to close a projected state budget shortfall. Senate President Susan Wagle said after the chamber's action Wednesday that legislators will need to trim additional spending from the budget. The Senate voted 30-1 against giving the bill first-round approval after members spent hours whittling it down. The measure would have raised sales, tobacco and gasoline taxes. It also would have suspended a tax break enacted in 2012 for business owners and farmers as an economic stimulus. The bill initially would have raised $496 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1, more than enough to erase the budget shortfall. But after debate, the measure would have raised only about $350 million.
