Tag: Michael Austin
Performance-based budgeting law is effectively ignored by state agencies
A report on performance-based budgeting in Kansas reminds readers of a famous quote about government spending: “A billion here, a…
Kansas ranks near the bottom of real personal income growth
A report last week from the Bureau of Economic Analysis shows Kansas ranks near the bottom of states in real…
Half of state unemployment payouts may be overpayments or fraud
As Kansas grapples with record levels of unemployment claims and rampant fraud, economist Michael Austin, Director of the Kansas Policy…
KDOL spins unemployment rate, ignores people leaving workforce
The Kansas Department of Labor put its own spin on bad economic news earlier this week. Kansas’s unemployment rate dipped…
Controversial Commerce Secretary promoted to lieutenant governor
Gov. Laura Kelly tapped Commerce Secretary David Toland to serve as her lieutenant governor on Monday. Toland replaces Lt. Gov.…
Kansas GDP drops more than 30% amid lockdowns
U.S. GDP dipped by $2 trillion in the second quarter compared to the same quarter in 2019. Using data from…
Austin, Nolan appointed to Civil Rights Advisory Committee
The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights announced the appointment of 12 people to the Kansas Civil Rights Advisory Committee, including…
Kansas media, governor hide warning signs in July tax collections
July tax collections included a few warning signs for Kansas legislators and taxpayers, but you wouldn’t know it from Governor…
COVID cases trending down but Kelly extends shutdown order
Legislators and others feared Kansas Governor Laura Kelly would drag out her economic shutdown when she wouldn’t identify specific criteria…
Reopening Kansas: challenges and opportunities
Even as the Kansas Policy Institute, which owns the Sentinel, and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce released their plans for…
COVID testing levels have little relationship with positive cases
A statistical analysis of COVID testing and cases by Kansas Policy Institute shows one positive case for roughly every ten…
Commerce Committees hear about barriers in Kansas economy
The Kansas Senate and House Commerce Committee held hearings in Topeka this week on barriers to economic growth in the…
Kansas private-sector GDP growth ranked #45
The tax-and-spend ways of the Kansas legislature over the last three years has been a serious drag on private-sector GDP…
3-legged stool scheme sets up a $1 billion income tax hike
Governor Kelly and her tax council say a balanced 3-legged stool theory, with equal amounts of income, sales, and property tax…
Lawmakers face call to grow government with higher tax revenue
The group that creates budget estimates for the state of Kansas revised its tax revenue numbers last week, estimating the…
Medicaid expansion plan would hike cigarette taxes, raise fees
Over the last two days, members of the Senate Select Committee on Healthcare Access noodled on details of a Medicaid…
Johnson County execs ‘puzzled’ about sales tax decline, but keep spending more
Sales tax revenues are down, and Johnson County officials are waiting for the courts to determine the fate of several…
Media selective reporting could set up your next tax increase
When was the last time you saw a Kansas newspaper or TV station publish bad news about economic conditions in…
Kelly vetoes tax bill, reporters act like her deputies
Instead of asking hard questions about obviously misleading statements in Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of HB 2033, reporters across Kansas…
Kansas economy stumbles following tax hikes
The Kansas economy was one of the slowest growing in the nation during the 3rd quarter of 2018 according data released…
Kansas ranked in bottom 5 for its state and local tax rates
Kansas ranks in the bottom five of states in tax liability according to a WalletHub study. “Kansas did pretty poorly,”…
Plaintiffs to lawmakers: school funding increase falls short
Less than an hour after lawmakers adopted a school funding plan to add $90 million to public schools next year,…
Medicaid expansion advocates, opponents differ on cost of program
Medicaid expansion could cost the state more than $50 million next year and up to a half billion over the…
Panel Debates Consequences of Medicaid Expansion
Medicaid expansion could jeopardize the state’s budget, according to House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins. “I would like to hear from…