Report refutes Brownback claim that 'rural recession' caused budget woes

Duane Goossen wants to rectify the record.

A new report from the Kansas Center for Economic Growth concludes former Gov. Sam Brownback’s supply-side tax reductions induced years of financial crisis, rather than the “rural recession” Brownback blamed.

Now, one year after a partial reversal of the massive 2012 tax cuts, lawmakers face the difficult election-year prospect of paying for another increase in school funding. Goossen, a senior fellow with KCEG and the budget director for three governors before Brownback, said it is important to be honest and clear about the cause of the state’s budget problems.

The KCEG report to be released Monday says the global decline in commodities prices only accounts for a small portion of the overall economy in Kansas and wasn’t significant enough to derail budgets in neighboring states. Also, the agricultural and energy downturn happened after Kansas budgets became unstable.

“Those things were contributors to making our budget situation a little bit worse,” Goossen said. “But it was bad — things were bad — before any of that happened. That’s the thing. The tax cuts go into effect, revenue falls, and then ag prices drop, oil prices drop, and that doesn’t help things.

Read more: http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180324/report-refutes-brownback-claim-that-rural-recession-caused-budget-woes