With lawmakers off Monday and Tuesday and only a handful of committee meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, it was a quiet week in the statehouse. Activity under the dome will ramp up Monday as committees begin the process of vetting legislation passed by their counterparts on the other side of the capitol.
Despite a slow week there were a couple items of note . . .
Taxation – The House Taxation Committee held a hearing on HB 2685, which would impose sales tax on digital property and subscription services including digital audio-visual, digital audio, digital books, digital code and digital property. For proponents, the issue is a matter of tax fairness to local “brick and mortar” stores on Main Street who must collect taxes on the same products while online vendors, in most cases, do not. Opponents have raised concerns about additional taxes being levied on Kansans.
The Department of Revenue estimates the bill would increase state revenue by $45.6 million in FY 2021. This amount does not include local sales tax collections that also would benefit from the new assessment. Twenty-nine states currently tax digital goods but opponents have pointed out that Kansas neighbors Missouri and Oklahoma do not.
Economic Development – The Legislative Post Audit Committee, chaired by
Senator Julia Lynn, is overseeing a detailed evaluation of economic development programs offered by the State. A subcommittee, also chaired by Senator Lynn, began the work of prioritizing the audits with Post Audit staff this week. Also serving on the subcommittee are
Representative Kristey Williams and
Representative Jim Gartner.
The subcommittee will meet again before making recommendations to the full Post Audit Committee, but consensus seems to be forming around the prioritization of audits for the Promoting Employment Across Kansas (PEAK) program; the High-Performance Incentive Program (HPIP), the Kansas Angel Investor Tax Credit and STAR Bonds. Over time all incentive programs will be reviewed as a result of legislation passed in 2019.
Upcoming Events:
Public Policy Committee Meeting. The next meeting of the
Public Policy and Advocacy Committee will be noon-1:30 p.m. on Friday,
March 13 at the Chamber. Our guest will be Overland Park Representative Chris Croft discussing legislation making its way through tax and commerce committees. To register,
click here.
Legislative Policy Series. Get more sleep on weekends! We're switching formats for the remainder of our Policy Series from breakfast to lunch. The
#3 event in our series is a
weekday lunch held in conjunction with the Johnson County Public Policy Council, at noon on Tuesday,
April 7. Panelists will be Senators
Molly Baumgardner,
Barbara Bollier and
John Skubal and Representatives
David Benson,
Tom Cox,
Jarrod Ousley and
Jerry Stogsdill. To register,
click here.
