BY: RACHEL MIPRO Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — To flat tax or not to flat tax? That is the question for Kansas Sen. David Haley, a Kansas Democrat who says he cannot make up his mind on a sprawling 5.25% flat tax proposal estimated to cost $1.589 billion over three years.
A House leader says Haley is doing it for the attention.
While Republican leaders in the Kansas House estimate they have the two-thirds majority needed to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of the legislation, their compatriots in the Senate believe they are still one vote short. The bill is one of their top priorities for the session.
Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, and one of a small contingent of Senate Democrats who would be critical to sustaining Kelly’s veto, said Monday he has doubts about which way he will be voting.
“I want everyone here to know, David Haley is not predictable on such crucial measures. …” Haley said. “I’m just not a placeholder there that can be so easily predicted.”
Haley aired his hesitations by calling an “emergency” town hall meeting Saturday to discuss the flat tax proposal with constituents. During the Wyandotte County meeting, the majority of attendees spoke against the flat tax proposal and asked him to sustain the veto.
“Wyandotte countians were clear,” said Sister Therese Bangert, of the Sisters of Charity in Leavenworth. Bangert, who attended the Saturday gathering, estimated that most of those present spoke against the tax.
Haley said he wasn’t blinded by what he characterized as “very real tribal support for who is our governor.”
“Many of them wanted me to say that I’ve made a decision. And I’ve had to say I didn’t,” Haley said during a Monday interview with Kansas Reflector. “I try to be a little more thoughtful than just sheer partisanship on fiscal issues like this.”
House Minority Leader Rep. Vic Miller, D-Topeka, spoke strongly against the flat tax, calling the proposal unfair and bad policy. Miller said Haley’s hesitation stemmed from a desire for the spotlight.
“He likes the spotlight, and I think that’s what this is all about,” Miller said. “I don’t think his vote’s going to make the difference. I think he would like it to make a difference, he would like to be the person who makes it or breaks it, so he gets even more attention than he’s getting now. He likes the spotlight.”
The flat tax package is estimated to cost $1.589 billion over a three-year period.
A study of the proposal conducted by ITEP, a nonpartisan research organization that favors a progressive tax system, estimated that 44.5% of the income tax savings would go to the top 5% of wage earners. The top 20% would have gotten an average tax break of $828, while the bottom 80% of wage earners would get an average annual tax break of $89 under the flat tax.
Other elements in the package are more broadly popular, such as eliminating the state sales tax on groceries April 1, instead of the current deadline of Jan. 1, 2025.
The Republican-dominated Legislature fast tracked the plan early in the legislative session, sending the bill to Kelly’s desk, where she shot down the bill, characterizing it as a “reckless” plan and similar to former Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax “experiment.”.
Last year, Kelly vetoed a similar flat tax plan that included a 5.15% flat tax. In the Senate’s veto override attempt, 26 Republicans voted in favor of the flat tax, while two Republicans broke party lines to vote with Democrats against the tax.
Top Republican legislators Senate President Ty Masterson and House Speaker Dan Hawkins, both strong flat tax advocates, have condemned Kelly’s veto. A veto override attempt is expected this week. In the House, 84 votes are needed to override Kelly’s veto, and 27 votes are needed in the Senate to complete the veto override.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, said she and other Senate Democrats would work to sustain the veto and rally others in the chamber to her cause.
“It’s bad policy, it’s going to jeopardize us in the future, and we need to say no and then we can have an honest conversation about something that actually would have relief for working Kansans,” Sykes said.
She cautioned Haley against the move.
“It would be a very bad vote for him, not to sustain the veto for his district, so I’m hoping he sees that,” Sykes said. “From what I’ve heard, that was the strong message from his constituents on Saturday to sustain the governor’s veto.”