OPEN LETTER TO KANSANS AND THE
REAL STATE OF THE KANSAS ECONOMY AND FISCAL STATUS
by Karl Peterjohn

Concerned Kansans:

The Tax Foundation has just released a study ranking Kansas a mediocre 31st out of the 50 states for our business fiscal policy (see below) October 11, 2006. This is important information since the Sebelius for Governor campaign is continuing to promote several flawed studies claiming that Kansas has a great business and economic climate in some of their campaign commercials.

Kansas is regionally, a high tax state with only one small niche market where we have a competitive advantage over our neighbors. This is bad news for growing the Kansas economy and for Kansans graduating from school who would like to find a job here.

The flawed studies used by the Sebelius campaign include a Pacific Research Institute study that relied upon the percentage of land owned by the private sector as a key determinant in ranking the 50 states. Kansas has a very tiny percentage of land owned by the federal government when compared with the western states like Colorado and the rest of the states west of the Rocky Mountains. Another misleading study relied upon the qualifications of the state commerce department employees as opposed to looking at the high and rapidly growing property taxes here.

If the Sebelius campaign is correct, Kansas economy should be growing by leaps and bounds. Instead, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Kansas at the bottom of all 50 states for private sector job growth during the last year. This is an important piece of information that Americans for Prosperity has been trying to provide to Kansans.

In 2004 the Tax Foundation released a similar study (Background paper, Oct. 2004, 45) that ranked Kansas at a mediocre 32nd out of the 50 states and that study would have covered the period of time at the beginning of the Sebelius administration. At best, you could say that the 2004 and 2006 Tax Foundation studies show almost no change during this part of Governor Sebelius' first term in office. Kansas is lagging and claims to the contrary cannot contradict the decline in private sector job growth.

Karl Peterjohn

From: "Tax Foundation Media Services" <phillips@taxfoundation.org>
Subject: How Tax Friendly Are the 50 States?
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 09:15:00 -0400

Media Inquiries Brian Phillips Manager of Media Relations main: 202.464.5102 cell: 202.465.6153 email	How Tax Friendly Are the 50 States? The Tax Foundation’s 2007 State Business Tax Climate Index Article | Op-Ed | Full Report | Executive Summary Background The State Business Tax Climate Index ranks how “business friendly” the 50 state tax systems are, providing a roadmap for state lawmakers concerned with keeping their states tax competitive. Since 2003, significant changes in a state's ranking, such as New Mexico and Maryland, reflect positive and negative changes in their state's tax system. Keeping a state competitive in today’s global market can be difficult, but there is one factor lawmakers have direct control over: the quality of state tax systems. The Index measures how well a state’s tax system encourages investment by maintaining a broad tax base and low rates. “Labor and capital are more mobile than ever,” says Chris Atkins, staff attorney and co-author of the Index. “In the global competition for jobs, no state can afford to be saddled with a tax system that unduly punishes new business investment.” See the full report here Rankings The ten best states in the Tax Foundation’s 2007 State Business Tax Climate Index are as follows: Rank State 1 Wyoming 2 South Dakota 3 Alaska 4 Nevada 5 Florida 6 Texas 7 New Hampshire 8 Montana 9 Delaware 10 Oregon The ten worst states in the Tax Foundation’s 2007 State Business Tax Climate Index are: Rank State 41 Minnesota 42 Maine 43 Iowa 44 Nebraska 45 California 46 Vermont 47 New York 48 New Jersey 49 Ohio 50 Rhode Island For media inquires please email Brian Phillips or call 202.464.5102.	Resources
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