By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly believes in being fiscally responsible, and she believes that her Axing Your Taxes package will be fiscally responsible while saving Kansans approximately $500 million over the next three years.
Kelly discussed her Axing Your Taxes package during an exclusive interview with Salina Post on Tuesday afternoon.
The governor announced on Jan. 19 that the package, comprised of three parts, had been introduced in the Kansas House and Senate.
Kelly told Salina Post that the package builds off of last year's bipartisan legislation that she signed to gradually eliminate over three years the 6.5 percent state sales tax on groceries.
"One of the three things my bill does is eliminate the state portion of the food sales tax completely and immediately," Kelly said. "The money is in the budget. The revenue would be coming in to cover that for as far out as we can see, so there's absolutely no reason to not do that."
If that part of the package is passed, the state sales tax would immediately be eliminated on groceries, diapers, and feminine hygiene products.
The second component of Kelly's proposed legislation would create in August a four-day sales tax holiday on school supplies, personal computers, instructional materials, and art supplies.
"That will help not only our parents and teachers, but I think it will also help our businesses, particularly those on the borders of states that have that sales tax holiday," she said.
The third component would benefit retirees who might be taxed on their Social Security income. Currently, Kansans earning less than $75,000 annually do not pay state income tax on social security income. Under Kelly's proposal, no Kansas retiree making under $100,000 would pay full taxes on Social Security income.
"That would help a lot of our senior citizens," Kelly said. "It would help put more money back in their pockets."
Kelly said that her administration is estimating a $500 million in savings for Kansans from the three components combined.
"Everybody benefits," she said.
Should the tax cut package be approved, no state services will need to be cut to make up for the estimated $500 million in tax savings, Kelly said.
"I am a true fiscal conservative. I don't like to spend money I don't have. I won't spend money I don't have," she said. "So you can trust that we've looked at this every which way from Sunday. We won't touch our schools. We won't touch our transportation program. All of those will remain intact with these tax cuts in place."
Kelly said she was not proposing any additional relief measures at this point.
"We thought this was a fiscally responsible approach to take for providing relief," she said.
Kelly did say, however, that as her administration is putting together its budget proposal for next year, "we will look at the numbers and see if that allows us to do some more."
Early childhood and childcare
On Jan. 10, Kelly signed an executive order to establish the Early Childhood Transition Task Force. Kelly said the executive order will give her administration a year to study the current early childhood services that are being provided by the state.
"We have a slew of different entities that are providing some sort of service to early childhood. We want to study all of that. We'll likely be working with the Hunt Institute out of North Carolina. They are experts in this area," she said.
Once the study is complete, recommendations will be made for realigning early childhood services, including the possible creation of a cabinet-level agency.
"That agency would focus entirely on the range of services for early childhood to ensure that we have more consistency, more continuity, less overlap, with fewer gaps" to make better use of resources for early childhood, including childcare, Kelly said.
Kelly's second term
"If you listened to the State of the State, you know that we have a lot of plans for the second term, including building on many of the things that we started in the first term. That would include things like broadband expansion. We are being focused like a laser ensuring that as many homes and hospitals, schools, and businesses as want are connected to high-speed internet. That will continue to be a major focus of our administration," Kelly said.
Affordable housing, which Kelly noted was an important issue for the Salina area, also will continue to be a focus of her administration.
"We've been working with your local folks to ensure that you have plenty of housing available for all the jobs that are being created in your area," she said.
"And then all of that flows into our effort to build our workforce. We have been very successful in bringing businesses and bringing jobs to Kansas. We need to ensure that they have the people they need," she added.
Kansas City Chiefs
On Sept. 1, Kelly placed the first legal sports wager in Kansas when she bet $15 on the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl LVII. The amount was no coincidence as 15 also happens to be the jersey number of Chiefs' QB1 Patrick Mahomes.
When asked whether she was still positive that the Chiefs would win the Super Bowl, Kelly said, "Absolutely! I don't know that Patrick Mahomes knows how to lose. Every time it seems like it's a possibility, he seems to pull it out. I'm confident that will happen and hopefully, he won't have to be coming from behind."