Voice For Liberty

Category: Kansas state government

  • More Under Reported Kansas News

    More Under Reported Kansas News
    By Karl Peterjohn, Executive Director Kansas Taxpayers Network

    There are at least two stories that have not received the mainstream news media attention that they deserve in Kansas. Kansans need more information than they have received and the readers should decide whether the following is unreported or just under reported in their daily, mainstream newspaper coverage.

    It was headlines across Kansas when Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison announced his candidacy for Attorney General. Morrison, a liberal Johnson County Republican prior to his announcement, bailed out of the GOP said he was going to run as a Democrat. This announcement and the headline news stories that followed led to analysis pieces discussing the split in the Kansas Republican Party and the “problems” facing Attorney General Phill Kline’s 2006 campaign for reelection.

    What is fascinating in seeing the mainstream Kansas press’ bias was a couple of weeks later when Attorney General Kline announced that 89 of 105 county sheriffs were endorsing him for reelection. Even more remarkable was the fact that 8 of 13 Democrat sheriffs were among the 89.

    There has been very little news media coverage of this announcement in the Kansas press. In a few cases the information has been grudgingly and belatedly provided. There have not been any “analysis” articles discussing the weakness in Morrison’s candidacy when over half of the sheriffs in his new party are already rejecting his candidacy. These endorsements have been filling the internet sites with comments about the 89 endorsements. It is noteworthy that the Kansas City Star did not mention this until over two weeks after the news conference where the Attorney General Kline made this announcement. This belated mention of this story in early December in the Kansas City Star is likely due to the pressure from internet bloggers’ commentaries.

    This reflects more badly upon the news coverage in the Kansas City Star, the Wichita Eagle, and the other daily papers that are trying to skew state news coverage the way the New York Times and Washington Post have been caught skewing national news.

    A second story that has been ignored involves the Texas Supreme Court’s decision on school finance. Texas’ highest court threw out their statewide property tax but specifically told the legislature that additional funds were not a solution needed to make their state’s school finance system pass constitutional requirements.

    This case is similar to the ongoing Kansas litigation in terms of subject but not in terms of remedy or violating the separation of powers provisions. So, the Texas case is not only timely but is also quite relevant since it contrasts with the Kansas court’s $853 million in new spending demands. The Texas court ruling is going to set the stage for that state’s 2006 legislative session. However, this ruling specifically avoids the ongoing spending edicts being issued by the top Kansas court’s school finance edicts. Kansas is awaiting more edicts from our judicial masters.

    That’s a notable judicial difference. Kansans should know that five of the seven members of the Kansas Supreme Court are registered Democrats. Kansas Chief Justice Kay McFarland may complain about the fact that citizens are restless about her court’s edicts and activism on school finance, the death penalty, the court’s support for eminent domain abuses, and other hot button social issues. There are consequences to judicial short-circuiting of the political process to arrive at the politically correct conclusions of our new judicial oligarchs.

    The Kansas Supreme Court needs to be seen as the Sebelius court with her appointments, her campaign manager’s family ties to this court, and the Democratic domination among its members. The contrast, as well as the similarities, between Kansas and Texas in this school finance litigation is an important story that deserves more attention than it has received.

  • Kansas Income Growth Lags

    By Karl Peterjohn

    You will earn more if you do not work in Kansas. That is nothing new but the size and scope of the economic problem facing Kansans has become more vivid. National data has regularly shown that Kansans’ incomes are lower than the national average and this is impacting the economic climate in this state.

    In September, Wichita State University’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research issued a report showing how badly Kansas lagged with the fastest and slowest growing parts of the United States. In this report Kansas vividly contrasted with fast growing Colorado in all of the measurements being used.

    Colorado, which has been benefiting from their Taxpayers Bill Of Rights limits on state and local government spending increases, had the best economy in our region. Colorado was in the ten fastest growing states when total personal income, earnings per job, per capita income, full, and part-time job growth were measured. Naturally, jobs and income then have an impact reflected in Colorado’s fast growing population too.

    What the Wichita State University study did not report was how Kansas measured when compared with all four of our immediate neighbors. This is bad news for Kansas.

    Personal income growth is weak in Kansas. It is one of the lowest in the entire country at 43rd out of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia for a ten year time period ending in 2003. This federal data ranked Colorado as 3rd highest while our other three neighboring states ranked between 28th and 33rd.

    Kansas was a dismal 41st and once again in the bottom 10 when it came to per person or per capita personal income. Colorado was once again in the top ten at number 9 while Nebraska was 12th, Oklahoma 19th, and Missouri 30th. Earnings by place of work was another measurement W.S.U.’s study examined and Kansas again scored badly. Kansas was worst in this region at 37th while Colorado was once again 3rd.

    There was a bit of good news in job growth percentages since Kansas did not score at the bottom in our region. Missouri was at the regional bottom at 37th and Oklahoma was slightly worse than Kansas at 32nd. The growth in jobs could be attributed to other factors like Missouri and until recently Oklahoma both being states without Right To Work laws that have a positive impact upon job availability.

    Jobs, wages, and income are all factors in a society where people can, and do, vote with their feet. Americans have always been a restless lot and the level of jobs, wages, and income are all important factors on where people decide to live. The W.S.U. study looked at population trends. In 1970, there were more Kansans than Coloradans. Today, there are 1.5 million more residents of Colorado than Kansas. During the 1990s in the hey-day of TABOR, Coloradans’ incomes soared and their population grew over 30 percent.

    Government spending advocates like Governor Sebelius have cited the recent growth in state tax revenues as a sign that the Kansas economy is growing. Sadly, the 7.1 percent growth in state revenues in the fiscal year ending June 30 was less than half the national percentage growth in revenues. Tax revenues show a continuing relative decline for Kansas.

    WSU’s survey indicated that Kansas had the lowest population growth in our five state region. This is not a surprise since there is a costly and highly uncertain fiscal climate to own or operate a business in this state. The judicial activism coming from the Kansas courts with a billion dollar price tag raises this uncertainty even higher and that is too recent for this data. Many liberals in Kansas claim that additional spending on government, particularly public schools, is the solution to economic growth. Higher government spending is much more connected with economic stagnation and decline. Kansas, with high property, income, and sales taxes, provides a regional model on why this state is lagging in wages, incomes and job growth and this is hurting population growth here.

  • Taxpayer Bill Of Rights (TABOR) eviscerated

    By Karl Peterjohn

    Governor Bill Owens won a Pyrrhic victory in his campaign to eliminate the Taxpayers Bill Of Rights (TABOR) limits on government growth in Colorado. Owens’ short lived Proposition C victory will lead to a host of long term consequences that are mainly negative for Coloradans looking for a better economic future for themselves and their families. Passage of Proposition C is huge defeat for economic freedom across the country and a setback for fiscal responsibility.

    The passage of Proposition C will mark a key political and public policy turning point that ends Owens’ career as a fiscally conservative Republican. Owens is truly now a political lame-duck who will be known forever more as the individual primarily responsible for the demise of TABOR. Among fiscal conservatives nationwide he is now a political dead-duck. A couple of years ago National Review featured Owens as a potential presidential model for GOP conservatives. Now he is nothing more than another Republican office holder who “grew in office.”

    While it is certainly true that the entire Colorado Democrat Party, their mainstream media allies, and the usual leftie academic types also bear significant responsibility for the outcome of this vote, the face on the evisceration of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights will be, and should be, Governor Bill Owens. Now, TABOR is wounded but it not dead. Here’s what the Left will target next based on the Kansas model.

    The Left’s next step will be to figure out a similar evisceration of TABOR’s provisions affecting local governments spending in Colorado. Naturally, extending the time limit for TABOR’s evisceration at the state level will be needed, but that can wait for a couple of years until Democrats return to running all levers of power in state government in Colorado.

    Owens success November 1 in passing Proposition C and possibly (the preliminary vote indicates a very narrow defeat for Proposition D that a re-count may reverese) Proposition D will lead to a host of long term negative consequences for Colorado. In the short run the state will be free to go on a spending spree. They will.

    The state spending Bacchanalia will be certainly be followed by a fiscal hangover. The spending will be short run stimulative and long run drag on the state. This is not unexpected and in fact, there is a model for this pattern: California. Almost 20 years ago the Gann Amendement that limited state spending growth was a 1970’s (the Gann Amendment was enacted in the wake of Proposition 13) forefather of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. The spending lobbies in California hated it and roughly a decade after passing it, they succeeded in eliminating Gann.

    California has fiscally struggled ever since this cap on government was terminated. Massive fiscal uncertainty was created and the California fiscal climate clouded up in the wake of this policy change. Next week a very pale imitation of a state spending limit will be voted upon in California as part of the four initiative package promoted there by Governor Schwarzennegger. A narrow, 52-48 percent Colorado majority has decided that California is the fiscal path to follow instead of the tried and true Taxpayers Bill of Rights.

    As the fiscal hangover appears following the Colorado state spending spree in a few years this is will help my state, Kansas, compete with Colorado. The model Governor Owens and his bipartisan spending coalition has adopted is very similar to the pattern of higher spending adopted by Kansas’ nominally Republican Governor Bill Graves and a bipartisan majority of the Kansas legislature during his second term here (1999-2003). Record spending leading to more taxes leading to more economic stagnation leading to more Kansans leaving for states with more fiscally prudent policies. Kansans number one destination state to move to today is Texas according to census figures. The most delicious irony of the anti-TABOR campaign is the fact that the leading TABOR critic touring Kansas these days is Carol Hedges. She is one of many Kansans who have moved to Colorado which has a large number of expatriate Kansans.

    These economic and demographic changes will take years and possibly even decades to fully play out. It is possible that a taxpayers bill of rights will eventually stage a comeback in Colorado, but that is unlikely for the rest of this decade. What is likely is resurrection of the Democratic Party as the Republicans fracture because of Owens’ fiscal apostasy in abandoning TABOR. The next governor of Colorado will be a Democrat.

    In the decade before Coloradan’s adopted the Taxpayers Bill of Rights in 1992 there wasn’t much difference in economic growth between my state of Kansas and Colorado. Both states grew below the national average. Colorado did slightly better than Kansas. That lethargic growth ended in 1992 in Colorado with TABOR’s passage. The growth in Colorado compared to Kansas in the 13 years of TABOR was dramatic and compelling. Soon it will be gone. TABOR will be a memory for Coloradans and that state’s economy will drift back into the tax ‘n spend lethargy that is Kansas today. What a shame.

  • Reports of TABOR’s Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

    by Alan Cobb

    The supporters of Big Government were overjoyed this week when 52 percent of Colorado voters backed an effort to fix a glitch in that state’s hugely successful Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights by allowing the state government to keep an estimated $3.7 billion in scheduled tax relief over the next five years.

    This vote, they claimed, was a sign that the voters of Colorado had rejected their Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, and that taxpayers across the nation should consider the Colorado vote a reason to oppose similar tax-and-spending limits in their own states.

    On the contrary, what Coloradoans actually did on Tuesday is vote to make their Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights look more like the improved version that is currently being proposed here in Kansas and in more than 20 other states.

    Colorado approved the nation’s first constitutional Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in 1992. It limits the growth in state spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth, and it requires voter approval before politicians can raise taxes or spend above that limit.

    Since Colorado enacted its Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, millions of that state’s citizens have reaped the benefits. For example, in the eight years before Colorado voters enacted the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), the state ranked 43rd nationally in median family income growth. Since then, Colorado is 7th. Before TABOR, Colorado ranked 33rd nationally in job growth. Since then, Colorado is 6th. Before TABOR, Colorado ranked 43rd nationally in economic growth per capita, and since then it ranks 7th. TABOR opponents give the credit for Colorado’s recent economic success to the Rocky Mountains, apparently forgetting that the Rockies didn’t just spring up from the Plains in the 1990s.

    Still, like all first-of-its-kind products, Colorado’s Taxpayers Bill of Rights wasnt perfect. Think of Colorado’s TABOR as the first version of amazing new computer technology that helps millions of people become wealthier and more productive: overwhelmingly positive, a benefit to millions, but with a minor bug or two. In the case of Colorado’s TABOR, the bug is called the ratchet effect.

    Under the ratchet effect, when state revenue levels dip during a recession, the TABOR limit drops with it, and it cant automatically increase to the pre-recession high-water mark. Colorado’s TABOR also doesnt have any effective “Rainy Day” funds that would smooth out budget shortfalls in the lean years. This ratchet effect, when coupled with a competing constitutional amendment unique to Colorado that mandates large automatic increases in education spending, can create a budget squeeze. Fortunately, this ratchet effect bug in Colorado’s TABOR version 1.0 has been corrected in the TABOR version 2.0 that is now being considered in other states.

    It would obviously be ridiculous to declare the computer age dead or to call for the abolition of laptops because of a minor bug that can and will be fixed in subsequent versions. The cost of doing that would far outweigh the benefits that will come by improving and promoting a very effective and popular product.

    Colorado’s voters did not throw out their Taxpayers Bill of Rights. They used their TABOR-provided right to temporarily suspended scheduled tax relief in an attempt to fix the ratchet effect — essentially trying to make their TABOR look a little more like the improved TABOR version 2.0 that is under consideration in other states.

    To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights’ death have been greatly exaggerated. The truth is Colorado’s taxpayers just endorsed the improvements that we’ve proposed, which would help bring tax relief, economic freedom and a generally higher standard of living to millions of Americans, including many Kansans.

    Alan Cobb is the Director of the Kansas chapter of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation.

  • How About Something Simple Like the Truth

    How About Something Simple Like the Truth
    Alan Cobb, Americans For Prosperity, Kansas

    I had a great time visiting 23 cities across Kansas last week to promote the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). The number of supporters vastly outnumbered the opponents, but both sides had more folks come out than I ever imagined.

    During the tour, several things became clear. While TABOR supporters offer hope and solutions to getting out of our economic slump, opponents offer nothing but nay-saying, scare tactics and misinformation.

    In fact, the flagrantly dishonest information being spread is simply breathtaking.

    Let’s remember all the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights does is allow Kansas voters to approve tax increases and spending increases above the rate of inflation plus population growth.

    The purpose of TABOR is simple. Government should have to live within its means just as Kansas families and businesses do every day.

    Opponents cite Colorado and make claims TABOR decimates the economy with few or no facts. The truth is Colorado has one of the strongest economies in America. How in the world Kansas’ Regents head Donna Shank could say that Colorado’s economy is “running on life support” makes one wonder.

    Although Shank recently stated publicly she wanted to research the subject and ask “tough questions,” when she showed up at the American Dream Express bus stop in Liberal, she didn’t stay long enough for even an easy question. In fact, the short presentations made by myself, State Rep. Larry Powell and State Senator Tim Huelskamp didn’t elicit one question from Shank

    For those unable to ask questions during our bus tour, below are myths and facts surrounding TABOR:

    Myth: TABOR hurts the poor.Fact: Colorado’s poverty rate is lower than Kansas’
    Myth: Thousands of teachers would be eliminated.Fact: Colorado has gained more than 11,000 teachers since 1994.
    Myth: TABOR has hurt teachers in ColoradoFact: Colorado teachers are paid more than teachers in Kansas.
    Myth: TABOR has devastated higher-ed in Colorado.Fact: U.S. News ranks the University of Colorado as the 78th best university in the country and ranks K.U. 97th. Colorado State was ranked 120th and K-State wasn’t ranked.

    Kansas doesn’t have a state university among the best 120 masters-level universities in the county, and Colorado does.

    Both K.U. and K-State have higher tuition than the Univ. of Colorado.

    Myth: Colorado Gov. Owens wants to repeal TABOR.Fact: Gov. Owens has repeatedly stated he wishes Colorado’s TABOR was like Kansas’ TABOR.
    Myth: Kansas government spending as a percent of income hasn’t changed over the last 30 years.Fact: State spending as a percent of income increased almost 50% over the last 30 years.
    Myth: TABOR has devastated the Colorado economy.Fact: Prior to TABOR passing in Colorado in 1992, Kansas and Colorado’s economic growth was similar. From 1984 to 1992, Colorado ranked 43rd in median family income growth and Kansas ranked 48th. From 1992 to 2004, Kansas ranked 44th in family income growth and Colorado ranked 7th.

    In 1980, Kansas per capita income rank was 16th, Colorado was 12th. By 2004, Kansas per capita income rank was 29th, Colorado was 8th.

    From 1980 to 1992, Kansas ranked 43rd in productivity growth and Colorado ranked 26th. Colorado ranks 4th in productivity growth since 1992, Kansas ranks 37th.

    Colorado ranks 1st in concentration of technology jobs, 2nd in number of new companies per capita, and 4th in estimated long-term job growth.

    Let’s do a service to all interested in this debate and quit the ridiculous demagoguery.

    There is a reason TABOR opponents have stooped to scare tactics in defense of the old “we’ve always done it this way” mentality. Scare tactics are what you use when you don’t have the facts on your side.

  • Criticism of Bob Corkins reveals true motivations

    I have not met Bob Corkins, but I have read some of his articles. I published several on the Voice For Liberty in Wichita. He is in favor of school choice, and that is one thing that the education establishment, education bureaucrats, and teachers unions are very much opposed to. Never mind that allowing school choice could be the quickest and easiest thing we can do to improve schools in Kansas. As Harvard economist Caroline Hoxby has noted regarding school choice in Milwaukee:

    From 1998-1999 onwards, the schools that faced the most competition from the vouchers improved student achievement radically–by about 0.6 of a standard deviation each year. That is an enormous, almost unheard-of, improvement. Keep in mind the schools in question had had a long history of low achievement. Yet they were able to get their act together quickly. The most threatened schools improved the most, not only compared to other schools in Milwaukee but also compared to other schools in the state of Wisconsin that served poor, urban students. … Milwaukee shows what public school administrators can tell you: Schools can improve if they are under serious competition.

    I would like to hope that the appointment of Mr. Corkins will lead to thoughtful debate in Kansas about education instead of more self-serving pronouncements from the education establishment and teachers unions. But the shrill criticism does not give me hope.

    From Karl Peterjohn, Kansas Taxpayers Network:

    Bob Corkins is an excellent choice as the next commissioner for education in Kansas. He is one of the top experts on school finance in this state with excellent legislative contacts and he has his own children in public schools. A dirty little secret is that some of the government school officials children are attending or have attended private schools.

    The government school establishment, the left wing Kansas press, the left wing elected officials have all responded with outrage to his appointment. The vile, hateful, and wildly inaccurate statements from tax ‘n spend legislators like Sen. John Vratil, Sen. Tony Hensley, Sen. Jean Schodorf, state school board member Bill Wagnon, and editorials in newspapers like the Wichita Eagle, the Lawrence Journal World, and the rest of the left-wing press in this state demonstrate their commitment to the state school monopoly.

    The political Left in Kansas endorses big, bureaucratic government that provides a state monopoly and perpetual demands for tax dollars for the public schools. This education is often strong on indoctrination and weak on learning to read, write, and computing numbers without a calculator. Sadly, state monopoly performs poorly for many Kansas children and then their families must struggle to either fund an alternative education at home or in a non public school. Bob Corkins will be working with the majority of the Kansas state board of education to improve education in Kansas. His appointment is a breath of fresh air for Kansas education.

    The following was written by Sen. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler:

    Elitist Arrogance in Kansas

    This week a dear friend and colleague of mine, Mr. Bob Corkins, was selected as the new Education Commissioner of Kansas. He brings to the position a wealth of experience: a background running a small business, strong experience promoting a positive business climate in Kansas, a reputation as a leading education budget expert, his first-hand knowledge of the Legislative process for nearly a decade, his legal expertise per education lawsuits, and national exposure as a top-rate policy analyst.

    For one who is to serve as CEO of a department of 200 employees –respond to the wishes of an elected 10-member State Board of Education — watch over 300 school districts — and account for more than $4.5 billion of taxpayer dollars — Bob would seem to be a perfect match.

    But for the elitists in Kansas today — he is not qualified.

    The excuses were many — he is not a superintendent or a classroom teacher. Heck, he’s not even a curriculum specialist or a master teacher. And he’s never even been the assistant secretary to the vice-principal of finance for the instruction of the English-as-a-second-Language students. And, by goodness, the guy doesn’t even have a Ph.D. in Education — or even a Master’s.

    The education insiders have gone ballistic. One superintendent claims that Corkins doesn’t care about the children, because he doesn’t support a massive tax and spending increase (which, of course, would increase the superintendent’s personal pocketbook). You might tell Bob’s Boy Scout Troop that he doesn’t care about kids.

    One Board of Education member — the husband of Governor Sebelius’ Secretary of the Department of Revenue — fell into a fit of babbling and make a nonsensical comparison of the appointment to the FEMA response to Hurricane Katrina. And then he threw out some disparaging personal attack on the integrity and intelligence of Corkins.

    The assault by the elected elitists continued next with attacks by Senator John Vratil, the all-powerful vice-chairman of the Senate Education Committee. Vratil compared Corkins’ appointment to making Saddam Hussein president of the United States. (That is a quote!) Bob Corkins a terrorist?!?

    Of course, don’t you know, Mr. Vratil is obviously more qualified in education than Bob — for he has law degree from KU — hmm — the same school as Corkins. But don’t forget, as a trial lawyer Vratil has not only sued the state of Kansas (and lost) for more education spending — he also receives considerable income serving as counsel to various school districts. But rest assured, neither the Kansas Bar Association, nor the Kansas Commission on Judicial Qualifications has found any conflict of interest between Senator Vratil serving as counsel to certain school districts and his votes for more taxpayer dollars to these districts.

    Based on the elitist disgorging, it is abundantly clear that Bob Corkins is the perfect man for this job. We need an Education Commissioner who can work with the State Board of Education, the Legislature, the 300 elected school Boards, and the taxpayers of Kansas to develop a 21st Century Vision for education in Kansas. Instead of simply focusing on spending more money doing more of the same, it is time our government education system focused on real improvement, cost efficiency, and responsiveness to the needs of parents and students.

    I call upon Senator John Vratil to do the right thing — apologize for your outrageous remarks. How do over-the-top insults, name-calling and personal attacks do anything to help the children of Kansas?

  • TABORTruth.org Not Quite So

    Right away the website tabortruth.org states: “TABOR proponents are baiting citizens with the allure of tax cuts, …”

    My understanding of proposals for a TABOR in Kansas doesn’t include tax cuts, except in one case. That’s because taxing and spending will proceed in this way: First, spend up to the limit imposed by the sum of inflation plus population growth. Then, put some tax money away in the emergency and budget stabilization fund. Then — and only then — if there were excess tax revenues, they would be sent back to the taxpayer. This doesn’t sound to me like much of a tax cut.

    It is likely that politicians will vote to spend all they can under TABOR limits, so it is quite likely that Kansas spending and taxes will continue to rise. It’s just that now there is a limit on the rate of growth. In the peculiar language of Washington and Topeka, a reduction in the rate of growth is called a “cut,” so maybe in the hearts and minds of the authors of tabortruth.org, there will be “tax cuts.”

  • Fact Sheet: The Truth About Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights

    The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights amendment has been an overwhelming success in Colorado. Colorado’s TABOR has successfully restrained the growth of state government and allowed millions of taxpayers to keep more of their hard-earned money.

    Since Colorado enacted the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in 1992, the state has experienced one of the strongest economic growth rates in the country and has provided taxpayers with more than $3 billion in tax rebates and refunds.

    Colorado experienced a challenge almost entirely because of Amendment 23 — a state constitutional amendment that mandates large increases in spending on education programs. The ultimate answer to Colorado’s budget challenge is the repeal of Amendment 23.

    While Amendment 23 is the main cause of Colorado’s challenge, that state’s version of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights isn’t perfect. That’s exactly why the TABOR legislation proposed in Kansas includes key improvements that will help us achieve even better results than Colorado has enjoyed.

    One key improvement we’re proposing to the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in Kansas is the inclusion of budget stabilization and emergency funds that will help us better deal with economic downturns. In periods of rapid economic growth, when revenue exceeds the TABOR limit, surplus revenue would be deposited into the emergency fund and budget stabilization fund. When the cap is reached on those funds, surplus revenue is then offset by tax cuts or tax rebates. In periods of recession, when revenue is falling, money is then transferred from the budget stabilization fund.

    Another important improvement we’ve proposed to the TABOR in Kansas is the elimination of the so-called “ratchet-down” effect. In Colorado, when revenues drop during a recession, the TABOR spending and revenue limit drops to that lower level and will grow from there — even after the economy recovers and revenues bounce back. That’s not the way it’ll work in our state. Here, when revenues drop during a recession, the “Rainy Day” fund allows TABOR spending and revenue limit to remain at the pre-recession high-water mark and only kick back in after revenues recover to pre-recession levels.

    These three key differences between a Kansas Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights and Colorado’s — the absence of constitutionally mandated annual spending increases here, the ratchet-down correction, and the budget stabilization and emergency funds — means our Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights will give us stronger economic growth, more tax relief and restrained government spending — without any of the minor side effects Colorado has experienced.

    Courtesy of Americans For Prosperity, Kansas Chapter.

  • TABOR Fact Sheet: Kansas vs. Colorado

    TABOR Fact Sheet: Kansas vs. Colorado

    Estimated at 10.4 percent of income, Kansas’s state/local tax burden percentage ranks 14th highest nationally, well above the national average of 10.1 percent.

    Kansas taxpayers pay $3,629 per-capita in state and local taxes.

    Kansas ranks 32nd in the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index: Missouri (11th), Oklahoma (14th), and Colorado (8th).

    Source: Tax Foundation

    Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights: GOOD FOR COLORADO…GOOD FOR KANSAS*

    3-year average poverty rate, from 2002 to 2004

    Colorado: 9.8 percent
    Kansas: 10.7 percent

    Change from 2003 to 2004

    Colorado: .1 percent
    Kansas: .7 percent

    Since TABOR was enacted in Colorado in 1992:

    Colorado ranks 3rd in population growth, Kansas ranks 36th.
    Colorado ranks 3rd in personal income growth, Kansas ranks 41st.

    In 1992

    Colorado ranked 18th in per capita income
    Kansas ranked 24th in per capita income

    In 2003

    Colorado ranked 9th in per capita income
    Kansas ranked 28th. In per capita income
    Colorado ranked 6th in per capita income growth
    Kansas ranked 30th in per capita income growth

    Since 1992

    Colorado ranks 3rd in productivity growth
    Kansas ranks 32nd in productivity growth
    Prior to the passage of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in Colorado in 1992, economic growth in Colorado and Kansas was similar.

    From 1980 to 1992:

    Kansas per capita income growth ranked 47th, Colorado was 34th.
    Kansas ranked 25th in population growth, Colorado ranked 13th.

    Income

    Kansas rank for per capita income in 1980 was #16, Colorado was #12
    Kansas rank for per capita income in 2004 was #29, Colorado was #8

    Median Household income

    1984 rank: Kansas 14, Colorado 10
    2004 rank: Kansas 36, Colorado 10

    State Economic Productivity (Gross State Product)**
    Economic growth from 1980 – 1992

    Colorado rank #26
    Kansas rank #43

    Economic growth from 1993 – 2003

    Colorado rank #3
    Kansas rank #37

    Job Growth**
    June 04 to June 05 private sector job growth:

    Colorado ranks #16
    Kansas ranks #32

    June 03 to June 05 private sector job growth:

    Colorado ranks #21
    Kansas ranks #34

    Education* **

    Kansas 2003 Spending Per Student ($) 7,454
    Colorado 2003 Spending Per Student ($) 7,384
    Kansas Bachelor’s degree or higher, persons age 25+, 2000 25.8 percent
    Coloardo Bachelor’s degree or higher, persons age 25+, 2000 32.7 percent

    *U.S. Census Bureau
    *Bureau of Economic Analysis
    *Standard & Poor’s

    Courtesy of Americans For Prosperity, Kansas Chapter.