'Flat tax' will hurt poor, benefit wealthy

As a former Ranking Member of the Senate Tax Committee, a ​​former chief hearing officer for the Kansas Court of Tax Appeals, and Co-Chair of the Council on Tax Reform, I am deeply concerned about the idea of a “flat tax” being proposed in the Kansas state legislature.

For those that aren’t familiar, a “flat tax” is a single tax rate applied to all taxpayers regardless of income. That means that Kansans earning the lowest income will be taxed at the same rate as Kansans earning the highest.

I oppose this policy for many reasons. First, it will disproportionately benefit the wealthiest and hurt the poorest in our state. To put that in perspective, under this plan, the lowest-income Kansans would save a little over $40 per year. Meanwhile, the wealthiest Kansans would save over $5,000 every year – over 100 times more in savings than low-income Kansans.  In fact in the Senate version of the flat tax bill 43% of the cut in tax dollars will go to just 3% of those paying taxes.

I fear that this kind of policy will hurt those already struggling the most and would cause Kansas tax policy to become even more regressive.

Not only does the proposal for a flat tax disproportionately benefit the rich, but it’s also too expensive. The flat tax is estimated to cost our state $570 million per year. That puts the elimination of the food sales tax – a tax cut that would benefit every single Kansan – at risk. 

Just a few years ago, similar promises of economic prosperity were made in order to pass the “tax experiment,” which similarly cut taxes for the wealthy. This resulted in billions of dollars being stolen from public education, infrastructure projects, and funding for other essential services, stalled economic growth, a loss in revenue, and an increase in taxes on middle- and working-class families.

It’s policies like the “tax experiment” that forced the food sales tax to be increased three times to make up for the loss in revenue then, and policies like the flat tax that similarly threaten economic relief for Kansas families now.

We’ve made so much progress over the last few years to fix our economy broken by the “tax experiment.” We’ve ensured full funding of public education to ensure our students are given the quality public education they deserve. We stopped stealing money from the Kansas Highway Fund to ensure investments to keep our roads, bridges, and highways safe are being made. We’ve even fully funded the state’s water plan for the first time in over 15 years to protect our water supply. 

Our economy is booming. Kansas is being recognized as a great place to do business, landing some of the largest economic development projects in our state’s history – including Hilmar Cheese in Dodge City, Panasonic in DeSoto, and Integra Technologies in Wichita.

So much is at risk if the proposal for a flat tax is passed.  Even though both the Senate and House bills have provided a new “floor” concept so no one gets a tax increase, when looking at  percentages, the wealthy would receive a much greater tax break than lower income families.  

Meanwhile, Governor Kelly has proposed a policy that cuts taxes for every single Kansan without threatening all the progress we’ve made. The “Axing Your Taxes” plan is a responsible approach to tax cuts, calling for the complete and immediate elimination of the sales tax on food, diapers, and feminine hygiene products, a four-day tax holiday on school supplies in August, and cuts to taxes for retirees.

I urge the legislature to think about where we were just a few years ago before moving forward with the flat tax and ask if all we’ve achieved is worth the risk.