‘The Great Kansas Tax Experiment of 2012’: A cautionary tale for Montana

In 2012, Gov. Sam Brownback convinced the Kansas Legislature to enact sweeping tax cut legislation. The plan was billed as a “shot of adrenaline to the heart of the Kansas economy.” As a Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives at the time, I was intrigued by the proposal but worried it was “too far, too fast.”

What was the plan to pay for the tax cuts? The pitch was that the cuts would pay for themselves, but they failed to assess the negative effect that governmental downsizing might produce. Back in 2012, the Kansas budget was healthy but austere as we emerged from the great recession of 2008. A significant budget surplus was on hand to cushion against declining revenues as we waited for the “shot of adrenaline” to kick in.

How did it go?