Clash in Kansas over tax relief quickly coming to a head

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s election victory suggested that Kansas repudiated past GOP fiscal policies.

Yet voters also encouraged top Republicans to pursue income tax relief by giving conservatives more power in the Legislature.

The contradiction is driving a political clash coming to a head quickly, with the state Senate debating a tax relief bill Wednesday.

The proposal is designed to keep Kansas residents and businesses from paying higher income taxes to the state because of changes in federal tax laws at the end of 2017.

Kelly argues she was elected because voters wanted her to fix state government and avoid repeating past fiscal mistakes.

But many Republican legislators are unimpressed. She won with 48 percent of the vote and conservatives picked up seats in the GOP-controlled Legislature.