Dueling histories on state tax cuts

Gov. Sam Brownback has been trying to rewrite the history of the state’s budget problems, recently blaming the Legislature for not approving the tax cut plan he wanted. But former Kansas Senate President Steve Morris has a different version of how the reckless tax cuts became law.

Morris said that Brownback called him immediately after the Senate blocked the tax cuts during the 2012 legislative session. Brownback pleaded with him to reconsider the bill.

“I want to paraphrase what I remember from this conversation,” Morris told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “Something to the effect of, ‘I know this bill would wreck the state. We can’t do it. It’s bad policy.’ Those are probably not his exact words, but that’s the gist of what he was telling me.”

Out of deference to the governor, Morris and some other moderate Republicans switched their votes and advanced the tax bill, so that the legislative process and debate could continue. But the House ended up voting to accept the Senate bill and Brownback signed it into law.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, backs Morris’ account. He said that Morris told him at the time that Brownback said neither House Republicans nor the governor would take advantage of the opening to enact excessive tax reductions.

“And you believe him?” Hensley remembers asking Morris.

Brownback denied ever providing such assurance. Then after signing the bill, Brownback helped lead a successful campaign effort to oust Morris and several other GOP moderates.

“I took him at his word that he thought it (the tax bill) was bad,” Morris said. Looking back, Morris calls that a “big mistake on my part.”

The state is still paying for it.

For the editorial board, Phillip Brownlee

This story was originally published February 4, 2015 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Dueling histories on state tax cuts."