Rewriting the history of Kansas budget problems

The rush is on to rewrite the history of Kansas tax policy and shift blame for the state’s budget problems. After initially blaming President Obama for the state’s revenue shortfall, Gov. Sam Brownback in recent weeks has blamed public schools (costing too much), the Legislature (didn’t pass the tax cut plan he wanted and then overspent) and the state’s official revenue estimators (too pessimistic). A Wall Street Journal editorial last week blamed liberals and moderate GOP lawmakers (even though they are overwhelmingly outnumbered in the Legislature) and said that Brownback “never claimed his plan would be instant Miracle Gro for public coffers” (even though he said that the tax cuts would act “like a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy”). – Phillip Brownlee

This story was originally published January 31, 2015 at 6:05 PM.