Print edition: 
Most state lawmakers would rather eat tacks than raise taxes in a recession and an election year. But Kansas' $400 million-plus budget shortfall calls for unconventional thinking and excruciating choices, which is why it's some relief to see the fiscal reality beginning to dawn on some GOP legislative leaders in Topeka.
Perhaps minds are changing with each bit of bad fiscal news, or with each e-mail from a constituent worried that public school funding will be further cut, or each story of a Medicaid recipient losing services and hope. Perhaps there's been an impact from the legal action against the state by school districts and, as of last week, advocacy groups for Kansans with developmental disabilities.
In any case, Senate President Steve Morris, R-Hugoton, now talks of a need for $300 million in new revenue. Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee Chairman Les Donovan, R-Wichita, proposed Monday to raise the statewide sales tax to 6 percent (but eliminate a sales tax on groceries when the economy improves), also signaling support for a sugary drink tax and modest increases in tobacco taxes. A Senate committee and the full House also are debating this week whether to repeal sales-tax exemptions and tax utility bills.
"I don't like what we're doing here personally, but I've got a job to do," Donovan said Monday.
Any other attitude constitutes denial.
Kansas isn't alone in this nightmare. States saw an 11 percent drop in revenues, the steepest on record, from October 2008 through September 2009. In response, according to the D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "13 states raised new revenue from personal income taxes; 17 enacted sales-tax increases; 22 increased excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol or motor fuel; 17 increased business taxes; and 24 increased fees or other taxes." So far, Kansas isn't among them.
For their part, many Kansans understand and accept what may be ahead, at least according to a new SurveyUSA poll, sponsored by KWCH, Channel 12. Though 63 percent of those surveyed said they opposed the idea of taxing pop based on its sugar content (about 10 cents a can), 64 percent favored increasing the cigarette tax and 55 percent supported taxing alcohol. Another SurveyUSA poll early in the month found 55 percent willing to see the 5.3 percent sales tax rise by 1 percent for three years to prevent further cuts to schools, Medicaid, prisons, roads and social services.
Kansas' lawmakers should cut all they reasonably can from state spending, of course — including any of that waste Republicans keep talking about. But they will be disregarding the scope of the problem, and the current and future effects of spending cuts on Kansas families and communities, if they refuse to use the revenue-raising tools at their disposal.
