Print edition: 
Though this first day of Kansas' 2011 fiscal year finds the statewide indoor smoking ban tied up in the courts for now, the sales tax increases from 5.3 to 6.3 percent today and driving without a seat belt can newly get you stopped. All three new laws have been criticized, but they should benefit Kansas in the short and long term.
No one relished raising sales taxes right now, and the increase will bite especially hard in border towns and areas with high local add-on rates. While Wichitans will pay a 7.3 percent rate, for example, 31 other communities now face total sales-tax rates higher than 9 percent; in special districts in Hays, Junction City and Leawood, the rate crosses the 10 percent mark.
But Gov. Mark Parkinson and a majority of lawmakers came to the responsible conclusion that $1 billion in recent cuts to state services were enough, and that more revenue was essential to protect vulnerable Kansans and safeguard education and other state budget priorities. With Sedgwick County's 30-month arena tax as an apt model, they opted for a 1 cent increase — scheduled to end after three years, except for 0.4 percent to bankroll the new transportation plan.
The tax hike is an indisputable pain but the $314 million in new revenue will come as a relief, easing uncertainty about the ability of the state to cover its obligations. The sales tax also has the small virtue of extending some of the burden to visitors.
Now, the next governor and Legislature need to ensure that the bulk of the tax disappears as promised — proving, just as Sedgwick County did, that some tax increases really are temporary.
Meanwhile, Kansans have new incentive to buckle up in their cars, beyond the seat belt's proven ability to protect life and limb. Under the primary seat-belt law in effect since June 10, law enforcement officers can pull over a car and, as of Wednesday, ticket its occupants just for being unbelted.
True, Kansas legislators wrote the law to be as feeble as possible while still qualifying as a primary seat-belt law, making the fine a lowest-in-the-nation joke — $5 (down from $30 under the old law) until next summer, when it will double.
Legislators can bump up the fine later. For now, they've acted to improve Kansas' 38th-place standing among states for seat-belt use. Seat-belt usage is 11 percent higher in the 30 states with primary enforcement laws than in the states with secondary laws.
Not coincidentally, in the process of passing a primary seat-belt law Kansas tapped $11 million in federal dollars to promote traffic safety and further help balance the state budget.
Kansans also should be mindful of another welcome change in traffic laws in effect today — an all-ages ban on texting while driving. There are valid exemptions, such as in emergencies, and the offense carries no fine until January.
But it's nice to know the state finally has a law against this brainless and dangerous practice.
