Article snippet: Gov. Sam Brownback’s leadership of Kansas came to be synonymous with a single, unyielding philosophy: Cut taxes, cut the size of government, and the state will thrive. But this week, Mr. Brownback’s deeply conservative state turned on him and his austere approach. Fed up with gaping budget shortfalls, inadequate education funding and insufficient revenue, the Republican-controlled Legislature capped months of turmoil by overriding the governor’s veto of a bill that would undo some of his tax cuts and raise $1.2 billion over two years. The move amounted to a shocking rejection of the tax-cutting experiment Mr. Brownback had held up as the centerpiece of his conservative governing. But economic growth and revenues lagged, and even his allies began to publicly criticize the tax cuts. The results were a warning of the risks for other Republican-controlled states that have tested similar approaches, and a dizzying descent for Mr. Brownback’s legacy and any future political aspirations. “Being governor was all about his tax plan,” Dinah Sykes, a state senator and fellow Republican, said of Mr. Brownback. “And he really believed it was the right step. But as many of us have seen, it was not. We had to take a vote to say no and say, ‘This is not the right direction.’ I don’t know how the governor doesn’t see that.” Ms. Sykes, who was among the moderate Republican lawmakers to vote to override Mr. Brownback’s veto, said she thought she had no choice but to push for a chan... Link to the full article to read more
Brownback Tax Cuts Set Off a Revolt by Kansas Republicans - The New York Times
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