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Politics : The Trump Presidency -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (66717)	4/13/2018 10:43:35 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 362563

Well, you can be pretty sure a zero wasn't influenced by politics. No you can't. Its often used precisely because it produces a more negative revenue result of tax cuts, and a more positive result for increases. That is what got Kansas in trouble. Over optimistic growth and revenue predictions contributed to Kansas' fiscal problems, but they aren't the only source of its problems, and Kansas' fiscal problems are far the worst in the country. -- On the basis of its fiscal solvency in five separate categories, Kansas is ranked 32nd among the US states for its fiscal health. On a short-run basis, Kansas has between 1.22 and 2.35 times the cash needed to cover short-term obligations. Revenues cover 98 percent of expenses, and net position decreased by $76 per capita in FY 2015. On a long-run basis, Kansas’s performance is stronger. It is also better than the average among states. There are no net assets remaining after debts have been paid. Long-term liabilities are 35 percent of total assets, less than the average in the states of 61 percent. Kansas carries a low level of total primary government debt at $3.7 billion, or 2.8 percent of personal income. On a guaranteed-to-be paid basis, unfunded pension liabilities are $38.68 billion, or 29 percent of state personal income. mercatus.org ------- Indiana’s doing relatively well for a state in the middle of the rust belt. Kansas cut taxes slightly, but South Dakota and Texas have far more pro-business models—so what would attract people to Kansas? Tennessee is doing far better than neighboring Kentucky, as it has no state income tax. BTW, progressives were saying Kansas was a “disaster” in 2014, and were sure that its governor would lose. He was re-elected... themoneyillusion.com ---- First, the Kansas economy is not facing a disaster as Ritholtz suggests. Michael Austin, who serves as chief economist at the Kansas Department of Revenue, recently announced that Kansas enjoyed record-high private sector employment in 2016. Additionally, business startups continue to break records since tax reform was enacted in 2012. The 2012 record was broken in 2013, and again in 2014. New business filings set another record in 2016 with 18,147 new domestic business filings. The exemption on pass-through income has been one of the most debated elements of the Kansas tax changes, but also produced strong growth. Employment at pass-through companies grew by just 2.4 percent in the two years prior to tax relief but then jumped by 8.4 percent in the two years following. That 250 percent change in growth rate was far greater than the national average and the 36,135 new pass-through jobs accounted for 82 percent of private sector job gains in those two years. Taxes matter for growth. Dave Trabert, president of the non-partisan Kansas Policy Institute recently analyzed data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis and found: "Over the 14 years leading up to 2012, private sector jobs grew by 6.3 percent and that growth rate ranked 41st among the states. But in the three years since income taxes were reduced, Kansas' growth of 4.8 percent was ranked 31st among the states after adding 74,289 more jobs over the period." BEA data is important because unlike the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they count proprietors in their job totals—one of the beneficiaries of the pass-through exemption. Also contrary to Ritholtz, slashing education budgets has not been "an annual event" in Kansas, not even close. The Kansas Department of Education reports per-pupil funding increased from $12,283 in fiscal year 2011 (Brownback's first year) to $13,025 last year. washingtonexaminer.com