Kelly vetoes bill to cut Kansas taxes $1.4B over 3 years

By JOHN HANNA
AP Political Writer

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has vetoed a bill to cut taxes in Kansas by nearly $1.4 billion over the next three years. Kelly told reporters Monday that she objected to a proposal included by conservative Republicans to impose a single-rate flat income tax for individuals. Kelly said abandoning the state’s current three-rate income tax with higher rates for higher earners would be fiscally reckless and threaten funding for public schools. She announced her veto at a Topeka-area elementary school and recalled the state’s 2012-2013 experiment in slashing income taxes and the huge budget shortfalls that followed under then-Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. House Speaker Dan Hawkins called Kelly out of touch.