Each week during the 2022 Kansas legislative session, we will provide Shawnee Mission area legislators the opportunity to share their thoughts about what’s happening in the state capitol.
Below is this week’s submission from Republican Sen. Mike Thompson of Kansas Senate District 10, which covers parts of Merriam, Overland Park and Shawnee.
This year, the Kansas Legislature has been faced with a very busy session so far, with a number of big decisions coming that will either help or harm our state in the long term. As always, I like to make decisions that will ensure a bright future, secure economic growth for ALL, and keep us on a sustainable path that will give future generations of Kansans an attractive and viable place to live.
Sometimes that means voting against a measure that might appear to be helpful on the surface, but when all is considered, would have negative impacts in the long term. There are quite a few of these crucial situations, but for now I will focus on one which I voted against.
Senate Bill 347 is a 59-page “economic development” bill designed to attract an undisclosed $4 billion dollar company to Kansas. This company will allegedly bring thousands of new jobs, but with no guarantee.
Currently, ALL businesses in Kansas are having trouble finding employees. A massive new company in our area would put the state and this unknown corporation in direct competition with existing businesses in Kansas who do not have access to these types of advantages handed out by the state.
It would pull employees away from already struggling businesses and put some out of business entirely. If passed, the state would reimburse up to 50% of training and education expenses for new employees for this business for the next 5 years.
It provides a 50% cut on property tax for this unknown company that the rest of us would still be paying the full bill. Yes, 50% is better than nothing, but we are also making other concessions in this bill that would offset those gains significantly.
Whenever the government gets involved in economic development by offering huge tax abatements to attract a single employer, it creates an uneven playing field. When the incentives run out, often the companies either leave or need additional incentives to stay.
Cerner is one recent example. And the 25 Kansas STAR Bonds projects have a horrible track record with only one success story. That’s a 4% success rate…in return for hundreds of millions of tax breaks and other incentives.
Any company capable of investing over $4 billion is likely a publicly traded company. Publicly traded companies make investment decisions based on how to keep stock prices high and investors happy. That’s not a bad thing, but it doesn’t place Kansans as their first priority when making plans for the future It’s naïve to believe otherwise.
As I said earlier, I am FOR economic development, but we have been approaching it in the wrong way for a long time. Kansas is one of the highest taxed states in the union. Our electrical rates are higher than surrounding states, and inflation is devouring our savings and salaries.
There are other problems as well, but all of these must be addressed first if we are truly going to fix the eco-devo issues here.
Note: The formatting in this column, including the all-caps and bolding, are the choices of the author, Sen. Thompson.
