Some Republicans see lesson in rollback of Kansas tax cuts

Legislators on Tuesday night overrode Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's veto of a bill that largely rolls back the income tax cuts he championed in recent years.

Persistent budget woes that followed Kansas' first round of massive income tax cuts in 2012 eroded Brownback's support among voters and prompted near-constant criticism on the left.

The measure is designed to cover projected budget shortfalls totaling $889 million through June 2019 while providing new dollars for public schools to comply with a state Supreme Court ruling in March that education funding is inadequate.

Even before acknowledging his defeat on taxes, Brownback on Wednesday held a public ceremony — flanked by some of his most ardent supporters — to sign the latest in a long string of anti-abortion laws.

Before GOP Gov. Terry Branstad resigned last month to become U.S. ambassador to China, that state's Republican Legislature approved a raft of conservative legislation, including anti-union and anti-abortion measures.

"Raising taxes should never be a cause for celebration, but eventually we came to the conclusion that it had to be done to correct the fiscal imbalance in state government," said Kansas House Majority Leader Don Hineman, a moderate Republican from western Kansas.