| By Max Ehrenfreund Republicans in Kansas broke ranks with t... | | |  | | | | The latest economic and domestic policy from Wonkblog | | | | | | Want the inside skinny on President Trump's economic team, and what will happen to Dodd-Frank and tax reform on Capitol Hill? Tory Newmyer has you covered with our newest newsletter, The Finance 202. SIGN UP >> |  Gov. Sam Brownback vetoes a tax bill on Feb. 22. (Thad Allton /The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP) By Max Ehrenfreund Republicans in Kansas broke ranks with the state's conservative governor Tuesday night, voting to raise tax rates and put an end to a series of cuts. The GOP revolt is a defeat for Gov. Sam Brownback, who overhauled the state's tax system beginning in 2012, bringing down rates and causing repeated, severe budgetary shortfalls. Kansas's legislature is overwhelmingly Republican, but moderate GOP lawmakers joined with Democrats, overriding Brownback's veto of a bill they'd already passed once that would raise taxes again by $600 million a year. Eighteen of the state's 31 GOP senators and 49 of the 85 Republican members of the House voted against the governor. The victory for Brownback's opponents resulted in part from their gains in last year's election. Voters -- frustrated that public schools were closing early and the state's highways were in visible disrepair -- rejected Brownback's allies in favor of more moderate Republicans or Democrats. 
| | | "It was a hard vote for a lot of people to make last night," said Rep. Melissa Rooker, a moderate Republican who represents a suburb of Kansas City. "Kansas has had a turn to the far right, and we seem to be centering ourselves." The legislation undoes the essential components of Brownback's reforms, which he famously described as part of a "real-live experiment" in conservative governance. Read the rest on Wonkblog.
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