Chamber PAC supports free enterprise

Edward Flentje recently claimed a handful of Kansas businesses that provide the majority of funds to the Kansas Chamber Political Action Committee have outsized influence and have views that do not mirror those of Kansas businesses in general (“Tail wagging chamber dog,” Sept. 4 Opinion). Both claims are false.

Our PAC is supported by more than 100 donors. We promote candidates who support free enterprise and the mission of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce.

We have raised more funds each election cycle to support our efforts to elect pro-business candidates, thanks to the generosity of our donors and particularly those successful Kansas businesses Flentje singled out by name. Yet the business community continues to be outspent by groups opposing pro-business candidates.

Our mission is to improve the economic climate for every business and citizen and safeguard our system of free, competitive enterprise. Our legislative agenda is developed by our members and adopted by a board of nearly 50 business leaders from all over the state. That agenda has produced reforms in the areas of human resources, regulatory affairs, taxation, government efficiency, and legal reform that have saved businesses hundreds of millions of dollars.

Thanks to our efforts, Kansas has thousands of new business taxpayers since 2012, after a decade of only public sector job growth. There were more than 20,000 first time small business tax filings in 2013 and 2014, adding more than $1.13 billion of new income, of which nearly $900 million was taxable.

What Flentje didn’t say about business taxpayers exempted from income taxes on pass-through income in 2012 is that they are our neighbors, not faceless companies. Nor did he mention that two years later the Legislature exempted 388,000 low-income taxpayers.

While Kansas and the nation continue to struggle with a lagging economy – here with low oil prices, low commodity prices and a president who is unfriendly to the aviation sector – personal income tax receipts are up from the previous year. Kansas lags in sales and corporate income taxes, neither of which were part of the 2012 plan.

We are a statewide business organization. We advocate for business, just as other organizations will advocate for their members.

We believe government exists to serve the needs of Kansas citizens and taxpayers, whose hard work and productivity make it possible to have the schools and public services we currently enjoy. We do not believe that taxpayers exist to serve government’s needs, and we will continue to fight for the taxpayers and for economic growth.

A growing economy is the tide that lifts all boats.

Quoting John F. Kennedy: “It is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low, and the soundest way to raise the revenues in the long run is to cut the tax rates.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2016 at 5:01 AM with the headline "Chamber PAC supports free enterprise."