House OKs Brownback effort to repopulate rural Kansas

TOPEKA — The House today approved Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to use tax and tuition credits to lure population to rural counties, but there was no love for Sumner County.

On a lopsided voice vote, the House approved Senate Bill 198, one of the cornerstones of Brownback’s plan to revitalize the state economy.

The bill is designed to grant five years of income tax relief to people who move from out of state into any of 50 rural and depopulating Kansas counties.

It also would allow counties and the state to split the check and cover $15,000 in tuition costs for students who move to the rural counties after graduation.

“This is a great bill for rural Kansas,” said Rep. Marvin Kleeb, R-Overland Park, who carried the bill on the floor.

The House turned aside an amendment by Rep. Vince Wetta, D-Wellington, who tried to get Sumner County added to the list of counties covered by the program.

He said Sumner County has fallen from nearly 26,000 residents to about 23,000 in the last 10 years and is the “poster” child for the kind of development the bill is designed to address.

He also said that the casino under development near Mulvane will draw most of its workforce from nearby Wichita.

“You go to downtown Wellington and you see a community that’s in a lot of trouble,” he said.

Kleeb asked the House to reject Wetta’s amendment, saying one of the criteria for inclusion was a county population of less than 12,000.

“We’re really trying to get to the smallest counties possible,” he said. “There are roughly 49 other counties we can sit here and debate one by one.”

Wetta’s amendment was voted down 73-41.

Rep. Nile Dillmore, D-Wichita, said the bill could have the unintended side effect of encouraging Kansas students to go to school out of state so they could qualify for the tuition break when they come back home.

But he made no motions and the House did not consider amending the measure based on his comments

This story was originally published March 18, 2011 at 12:15 PM with the headline "House OKs Brownback effort to repopulate rural Kansas."