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TUESDAY • JUNE 9 • 2015
110 days and counting
Kobach welcomes new power to prosecute ———
Brownback also signs bill moving local elections to fall By John Hanna Associated Press
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
REP. BOOG HIGHBERGER LOOKS UP AT THE VOTING BOARD as roll is called in the House chamber of the Kansas Statehouse. Monday was the 109th day of the record-breaking 2015 session.
House opts not to vote on tax bill; back to the drawing board By Peter Hancock Twitter: @LJWpqhancock
Topeka — Hopes that Kansas lawmakers might resolve a long-running stalemate over taxes and spending were dashed Monday when the House declined to even debate a $423 million tax bill that the Senate had passed the night before. Both the House and Senate adjourned Monday evening with plans to come back today for the 110th day of the session. Both chambers have passed a budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, but current tax law would bring in $360 million less than is needed to fund it. Senate President Susan
2015 session Today is Day 110. Previous record: 107 days (in 2002). Taxes: Senate bill awaits House action. Budget: Passed in both chambers. Wagle appeared visibly frustrated Monday afternoon, after it became clear there weren’t enough votes in the House to pass the bill. “We have a tax position now,” she said, referring to the Senate plan. “If the House has a different tax position that they want to negotiate on, then they need to show that position with the Senate in a
conference committee.” So far this session, no comprehensive tax package that would fill the state’s budget hole has received more than a couple dozen votes in the House. One that was based largely on Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposal received only three yes votes. Asked if the Senate had an alternative plan if the House could not come up with one of its own, Wagle said, “Yes. Allotments.” That’s a procedure governors can use to unilaterally cut state spending if the budget director certifies that the state will not have enough money to fund the budget in place. It is traditionally used in
Please see KOBACH, page 2A
emergencies when the Legislature is not in session. Negotiators from both chambers tentatively scheduled another conference committee meeting for 9:30 a.m. today, but House tax committee chairman Marvin Kleeb, R-Overland Park, said that would probably be rescheduled for later in the day.
Objections to the bill House members gave a variety of reasons for opposing the Senate-passed tax bill. Some did not like Please see HOUSE, page 6A l After furlough scare,
KU back in business. Page 3A
Concept of property tax lid creates worries By Chad Lawhorn
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on how much local governments could collect in property taxes in a given year. The House was scheduled to debate the tax proposal and accompanying property tax lid on Monday, but the bill was unpopular and House leaders opted — Douglas County Administrator Craig Weinaug not to put it to a vote. Local government officials were holding out hope the down with them,” said Chris ment offices across the area lid — which wouldn’t take Lowe, city administrator for Monday as word spread affect until 2018 — would Baldwin City. that the Senate had passed be defeated this year but Frustration was flowing a tax package Sunday that Please see LID, page 4A from a multitude of govern- included a provision to cap
It is a lid with no escape hatch. It is hard to see how you would The state government’s ever be able to call an election that budget problems would find their way to city halls and meets the requirement of the law.” Twitter: @clawhorn_ljw
county courthouses if the state adopts a concept included in a Senate-passed tax bill that places a lid on local property taxes, several area government administrators and elected officials said Monday. “Now, the state, which can’t manage its own money, is trying to drag me
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Topeka — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Monday that three attorneys in his office will be working on potential election fraud cases at least part-time and he is likely to handle some cases now that his office will have the legal authority to prosecute them. The state’s top elections official looked on as Gov. Sam Brownback signed two bills changing state elections laws, including a measure that gives Kobach’s office and the attorney general’s office the power to prosecute election fraud cases. Both new Kobach laws take effect July 1. Election fraud was the centerpiece of Kobach’s first successful campaign for secretary of state in 2010, and he’s sought prosecutorial authority ever since. Kobach said during the bill-signing ceremony that his office has identified more than 100 potential cases from last year’s elections in which people who cast ballots in other states appear to also have done so
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Town Talk
Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Lawrence retail market fastest growing in state
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aybe Lawrence shoppers have crystal balls. Here we are in June, and recent signs out of Topeka have been pointing to a sales tax increase. So, what did Lawrence shoppers do in May? They bought, bought and bought some more. So much so that Lawrence, at the moment, is the fastest growing major retail market in the state. Based on the latest sales tax figures, Lawrence shoppers don’t just have crystal balls in their closets, but likely mountains of new shoes, clothes and three-quarters of the inventory of the QVC shopping network. Sales tax collections in Lawrence rose by a whopping 11.4 percent last month. The latest figures from the Kansas Department of Revenue are for the May reporting period, which generally covers sales that were made from mid-April to mid-May. The 11 percent increase in taxable retail sales is one of the larger monthly increases I
First-camp jitters Amy Hoffsommer admits she was nervous when she opened her first camp as head volleyball coach at Free State High. Page 1D
Please see RETAIL, page 2A
Vol.157/No.160 28 pages