Lawmakers, Brownback profit from tax exemption

Maybe this is why Gov. Sam Brownback and many legislator so adamantly defend the state tax exemption on pass-through business income: They personally benefit from it.

Meanwhile, the state faces mounting budget shortfalls, and many Kansans question the fairness and effectiveness of the exemption.

Nearly 70 percent of Kansas lawmakers – or their spouses – own a business or property that allows them to avoid paying state tax on business income, according to research by Eagle reporter Bryan Lowry. In addition, both Brownback and his wife financially benefit from the exemption – as does the lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and insurance commissioner.

Brownback pushed through the exemption as part of his 2012 tax cuts. He argued that exempting non-wage income from limited liability corporations, limited partnerships and other pass-through entities would boost job creation.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/opinion/editorials/article107393487.html