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THURSDAY • FEBRUARY 19 • 2015
House panel refuses to reconsider Regents requests
Public works facility taking shape
WE’RE
MOVING
By Peter Hancock Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
YOU
TWO WORKERS ON LIFTS construct ceiling framing for one of the new storage buildings at the county’s new Public Works Department, 3755 E. 25th St., east of the Douglas County Jail. In addition to several storage buildings, the new facility will house under one roof all of the Public Works Department, which is now split between two facilities.
STATE REVENUE
Lawmakers urged to nix alcohol tax hike
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By John Hanna
Associated Press
Topeka — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s plan to raise alcohol taxes to help balance Kansas’ budget is so unpopular that even one of his former budget directors publicly urged state lawmakers to reject it Wednesday. Former Budget Director Steve Anderson joined business owners and beer and liquor industry lobbyists in opposing the measure during the first of two days of hearings by the House Taxation Committee on proposals from Brownback
to boost both alcohol and tobacco taxes. The hearing came shortly after House Speaker Ray Merrick said he opposed the tax increases. Brownback’s proposal would raise the tax on packaged alcohol sold at liquor stores and to club and restaurant owners to 12 percent from 8 percent. It’s included in a bill that also would raise the cigarette tax to $2.29 a pack from 79 cents. The state faces a projected shortfall of nearly $600 million in its budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 after legislators aggressively cut personal income taxes at Brownback’s urging
in 2012 and 2013 to stimulate the economy. Anderson, who served as Brownback’s budget director Merrick from January 2011 until August 2013, backed the income tax cuts. “First, we should look at cutting spending, and I don’t think we have done enough on that,” said Anderson, who was representing the Kansas Policy Institute, an anti-tax, small-government think tank that’s influential
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with GOP legislators. Merrick, a Stilwell Republican, took the same tact during a brief interview in expressing opposition to the governor’s proposals — or any tax increases. Brownback’s proposal to raise alcohol taxes also is opposed by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, the state’s largest business group. The alcohol-tax increase would raise about $27 million during the next fiscal year, and boosting tobacco taxes, about $81 million, for a total of $108 million. The Kansas Association of Please see TAX, page 2A
has been Western leg ofreduced SLT hasfor high rate of fatalities
IMMEDIATE W CLEARANCE!
Town Talk
Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
hen it comes to numbers and the South Lawrence Trafficway, we can all make jokes about the number of years it has taken to complete or the number of arguments it has sparked. But when city, county and school board officials got briefed on the project Tuesday, one number was nothing to laugh about:
The number of fatalities on the western leg of the SLT is about 55 percent higher than the average for similar Kansas roads. From 2009 to 2013, there have been three fatalities on the SLT, which runs from Iowa Street to the Kansas Turnpike on the western edge of Lawrence. (Hopefully you’ve noticed the other half of the project,
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Freezing
80 Business Classified Comics Deaths
High: 24
Low: 15
Today’s forecast, page 8A
from Iowa Street to Kansas Highway 10 on the eastern edge of Lawrence, is under construction.) If you go back to 2000, the number of fatality accidents on the SLT grows to nine. Engineers said one of the reasons for the higherthan-average fatality rate is that the road is two lanes
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Topeka — The full House Appropriations Committee refused on Wednesday to reconsider funding enhanced budget requests from the state’s six Regents universities, including Kansas University’s request to establish a Drug and Vaccine Discovery Institute. But the panel did reinstate $1.5 million that Gov. Sam Brownback had proposed eliminating for an incentive program that pays school districts $1,000 for each student who graduates with an industry-recognized job training certificate. It also approved Brownback’s recommendation to reinstate $51.2 million in Peck bonding authority this year for KU to build a new residence hall, plus $14.5 million in bonding authority for renovations at Corbin Hall this year. The full committee’s action came two days after a subcommittee also balked at the Regents funding requests, items that Rep. Virgil Peck, R-Tyro, referred to as an “absurdity.” Peck had asked that the subcommittee report include a comment noting that the Regents were asking for increased funding at a Please see HOUSE, page 2A
COMING SUNDAY Your guide to the Lawrence City Commission and school board elections.
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Please see SLT, page 6A
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Storming the court
Vol.157/No.50 20 pages
When fans of an opposing team storm the court after a KU loss, the Jayhawks view it as a sign of respect. Page 1B
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