Appeal Guide - Wisconsin Department Of Revenue: Fill & Download for Free

Basically, their agenda is completely without merit and now we have proof of that. You can thank Kansas for that proof.Sam Brownback's Conservative Kansas ExperimentThis is what every Tea Party person needs to know. This is what every Republican needs to absorb as fact.We tried it here. It failed. And our state is broken.Thanks a lot. The good thing? He has no chance of being reelected as Governor of Kansas. Even Republicans think this has been a grand failure. So... get a clue.Wall Street JournalSam Brownback's Tax-Cut Push Puts Kansas Out on Its OwnFellow Republican Governors Are Slow to Follow Example Given His State's FinancesBy MARK PETERS and DAMIAN PALETTAUpdated June 10, 2014 9:06 p.m. ET"TOPEKA, Kan.—Two years ago, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback laid out an aggressive program of tax cuts to turn this slow-growing state into a Texas-like economic powerhouse—and serve as a model for Republican leaders in other states.So far, the results are serving as more of a warning than a beacon. Employment growth is below the national average, while Kansas faces plunging revenue, dwindling reserves and a rare debt downgrade.The Republican governor says his policies need time to trickle through the economy and that other states should use his example to show how lower income taxes can spur private-sector expansion. But neighboring states that once thought of keeping pace with Mr. Brownback aren't mimicking the cuts—"In tax-cut push, Kansas' Brownback is out on his ownThe Huffington PostPulling Back the Curtain on Sam Brownback's Kansas Financial MeltdownPosted: 05/12/2014 4:19 pm EDT Updated: 05/12/2014 5:59 pm EDT"Let's review, shall we? First there was the bad news from Kansas:TOPEKA -- Tax revenue in April dropped 45 percent from a year ago, the Kansas Department of Revenue announced Wednesday.The state's revenue for the year is $92.9 million less than projected earlier this month....Personal income tax revenue has decreased by $508 million compared with this point last fiscal year. That category also accounted for the discrepancy between Wednesday's numbers and estimates released earlier in the month. Income tax revenue was $89.6 million lower than expected.This huge and escalating shortfall occurred after Kansas's right-wing Republican legislature and governor, Sam Brownback, enacted huge and foolish tax cuts, the result of which was--as Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley (D-Topeka)explained--to transfer the tax burden from the rich to the middle and lower classes. The revenue shortfall also led Moody's to downgrade Kansas's debt, something that will cost its citizens even more money over the coming years as they borrow to make up the lost revenue."Pulling Back the Curtain on Sam Brownback's Kansas Financial MeltdownThe Kansas City StarFoolish tax cuts flushing Kansas and Sam Brownback down the drainBY YAEL T. ABOUHALKAH05/03/2014 6:32 PM05/03/2014 6:32 PM"A very bad week for Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback got even worse on Thursday with the news that Moody’s Investor Services had downgraded the state’s bond rating.On Wednesday, Brownback and Kansans found out that the state’sApril revenue collections had fallen $92 million short of forecasts.The state has a “sluggish” economy compared with its peers, Moody’s said, in a decision that will cost state taxpayers money because of higher future borrowing costs linked to the lower rating.Sure, these events are great political news for Brownback’s probable opponent, Democrat Paul Davis, in this fall’s election.It’s expected news for all those who have said for more than a year that huge and irresponsible tax cuts backed by Brownback and the GOP-controlled Legislature would be a financial disaster for the state. All of the warnings they have been issuing before and since the tax cuts took effect in early 2013 are coming true.But you know who’s really hurt the most by the downgrade and the revenue shortfall?The people of Kansas.They are the ones whose state-financed services are at risk of being reduced.That’s true when it comes to K-12 education, higher education or social assistance for people with disabilities.Kansans who are enrolled in the underfunded state pension system are at risk.Bottom line: The state’s very future has now been imperiled because of a radical tax experiment by ultra-conservatives in charge of the Legislature, many of whom Brownback helped put there."Read more here: Foolish tax cuts flushing Kansas and Sam Brownback down the drainUS NewsWhat’s the Matter with Kansas’ Tax Policy?Gov. Brownback wants to eliminate the income tax and force the poor to pay for it.By Pat Garofalo"Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., speaks at the Wisconsin GOP state convention Friday, May 11, 2007, in Lake Geneva, Wis.Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has presided over one of the most rightward lurches of any state in the nation, on issues such as health care, abortion and education. But the crown jewel of his administration has been a package of cuts to Kansas' income tax – the latest of which was signed into law today – part of Brownback's avowed goal to eliminate that tax in his state altogether.Yes, you read that right. Eliminate, as in cut to zero. To that end, Brownback is forging ahead with his push for repeal, before Kansans have even had to pay the rates that came with the last cut. "I think we can, I really do," Brownback said this week when asked by the Wall Street Journal if he can succeed in repealing Kansas' income tax, the top bracket of which is now 4.9 percent. "The experiences in some other states have been that when you cut income taxes, that your sales tax increase more than makes up for your income tax cut."The problem with that approach, however, is that replacing the income tax with a sales tax means replacing a tax largely affecting the well-off with one largely paid by the poor, who are disproportionately likely to spend all or most of their income (thus exposing it to the sales tax). As this chart from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy shows, just replacing 50 percent of the revenue lost by eliminating Kansas' income tax with sales tax revenue would seriously wallop those with lower-incomes."Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback Wants to Eliminate the State Income Tax - US NewsThe New York TimesYes, if You Cut Taxes, You Get Less Tax RevenueKansas Tax Cut Leaves Brownback With Less MoneyJUNE 27, 2014"Kansas has a problem. In April and May, the state planned to collect $651 million from personal income tax. But instead, it received only $369 million."Continue reading the main storyThe New York TimesWhat’s the Matter With Kansas’ Schools?By DAVID SCIARRA and WADE HENDERSONJAN. 7, 2014"KANSAS, like every state, explicitly guarantees a free public education in its Constitution, affirming America’s founding belief that only an educated citizenry can preserve democracy and safeguard individual liberty and freedom.And yet in recent years Kansas has become the epicenter of a new battle over the states’ obligation to adequately fund public education. Even though the state Constitution requires that it make “suitable provision” for financing public education, Gov. Sam Brownback and the Republican-led Legislature have made draconian cuts in school spending, leading to alawsuit that now sits before the state Supreme Court."The New York TimesThe New York TimesCourt Orders Kansas Legislature to Spend More on SchoolsBy TREVOR GRAFF and JOHN ELIGONMARCH 7, 2014"TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas’s highest court ruled on Friday that funding disparities between school districts violated the state’s Constitution and ordered the Legislature to bridge the gap, setting the stage for a messy budget battle in the capital this year.With its ruling, the State Supreme Court averted, for now, a larger constitutional showdown by ordering a lower court to reconsider the most controversial part of the case — whether the public school system statewide was adequately funded. The lower court originally ordered an increase of more than $400 million in school spending, and the conservative-led majority in the Legislature had vowed to defy that order if it were upheld. Legislators said it was the job of lawmakers, not judges, to appropriate money."The New York TimesThe New York TimesAssociates of Kansas Governor Are Investigated Over Fund-Raising and LobbyingBy JONATHAN MARTINMAY 6, 2014"WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. is investigating fund-raising and lobbying activities of associates of Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas, an inquiry that follows his efforts to consolidate control of the state’s Republican Party during his first three and a half years in office.The governor has denied any wrongdoing, but the aggressive tactics by his political team are now casting a shadow on his re-election this fall.Since as early as 2012 and as recently as last month, the F.B.I. has been interviewing former lawmakers and lobbyists in Topeka about whether some of Mr. Brownback’s current staff members and former aides-turned-lobbyists acted improperly in soliciting campaign contributions and clients, according to two Kansas Republicans, who refused to be identified because of the continuing inquiry. They said they have been questioned by an F.B.I. agent based in the Kansas capital."The New York TimesThe Huffington PostFederal Court Ruling: Kansas Can Strip Planned Parenthood Funds"Planned Parenthood's lawsuit challenged a Kansas law that requires the state to first allocate Title X money to public health departments and hospitals, which leaves no funds for specialty family planning clinics like Planned Parenthood.Kansas had argued Marten's ruling "emasculates the state of Kansas' autonomy and sovereignty rights" in the Constitution's 11th Amendment. The state contends the law restricting the distribution of federal family planning funds does not target Planned Parenthood because the statute itself does not name the group or even mention abortion."We are pleased with today's ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. We will continue to defend Kansas law in regards to any further challenges," the Kansas attorney general's office said in an emailed statement."ABC News:"A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that Kansas can strip two Planned Parenthood clinics of federal family planning money while the organization moves forward with its legal challenge of a state law it says is retaliation for its advocacy of abortion rights.Kansas is among several conservative states that have sought in recent years to strip Planned Parenthood of funding. At issue in Tuesday’s ruling is money distributed to states under Title X, a federally financed family planning program. The Title X money targets low-income individuals seeking reproductive services such as birth control, pregnancy testing, cancer screenings and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. It cannot be used for abortions.U.S. District Court J. Thomas Marten blocked enforcement of the state law in 2011, ruling that it unconstitutionally was intended to punish Planned Parenthood for advocating for abortion rights and would likely be overturned. He ordered Kansas to continue funding Planned Parenthood until the case was resolved. He also found the state law violates the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause, saying states cannot impose additional requirements for entities to qualify for federal programs.A divided panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver overturned Marten’s rulings, saying Kansas can halt the funding. Tuesday’s decision is not a final ruling on the merits of the case itself, and the appeals court sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings. Given the split 2-1 ruling and the issues at stake in the litigation, it is also likely that the panel’s decision could be appealed to the full court for a rehearing."Federal Court Ruling: State Can Strip Planned Parenthood FundsMother JonesSam Brownback tried to create a conservative utopia—and put Kansas in play for the DemocratsEarly in his tenure, he said he wanted to turn Kansas into a "real, live experiment"for right-wing policies. In some cases relying on proposals promoted by the Kansas Policy Institute—a conservative think tank that belongs to the Koch-backed State Policy Network and is chaired by a former top aide to Charles Koch—Brownback led the charge to privatize Medicaid, curb the power of teachers' unions, and cull thousands from the welfare rolls.But his boldest move was a massive income tax cut. Brownback flew in Reagan tax cut guru Arthur Laffer to help sell the plan to lawmakers, with the state paying the father of supply-side economics $75,000 for three days of work.During the past four years, Brownback has taken every opportunity to stand against President Obama. He rejected the Medicaid expansion in the Affordable Care Act,depriving 78,000 residents of insurance, and approved a law to make sure his successor can't overturn that decision.In 2013, he signed into law the Paycheck Protection Act, which barred public-employee unions—including the 23,000 member Kansas National Education Association—from letting their members contribute money directly from their paychecks to political action committees.This has made it that much harder for the teachers' union to battle measures like one that passed in April. During the last weekend of the year's legislative session, Republicans rushed through a bill for additional education spending that was mandated by the state's Supreme Court—but not before adding to it a raft of conservative pet policies to reshape the state's public education system.The New York TimesThe Kansas Supreme Court Orders Kansas Legislature to Spend more on SchoolsTOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas’s highest court ruled on Friday that funding disparities between school districts violated the state’s Constitution and ordered the Legislature to bridge the gap, setting the stage for a messy budget battle in the capital this year.http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and Opinions/opinions/SupCt/2014/20140307/109335.pdfThe RollingStoneThe Great Kansas Tea Party DisasterThat word, "experiment," has come to haunt Brownback as the data rolls in. The governor promised his "pro-growth tax policy" would act "like a shot of adrenaline in the heart of the Kansas economy," but, instead, state revenues plummeted by nearly $700 million in a single fiscal year, both Moody's and Standard & Poor's downgraded the state's credit rating, and job growth sagged behind all four of Kansas' neighbors. Brownback wound up nixing a planned sales-tax cut to make up for some of the shortfall, but not before he'd enacted what his opponents call the largest cuts in education spending in the history of Kansas.Read more: The Great Kansas Tea Party DisasterFollow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on FacebookTV 5Local News Investigation of Governor Brownbacks spending taxpayer funds as he cuts essential services.Video Landing PageBonus readingThe latest victims of Brownback's warped economic vision: prison guardsThe Pitch's guide to Kansas' shift from far right to very wrongNot even Wall Street is buying what Gov. Brownback is selling; Moody's has downgraded Kansas' state bondsKansas' most vulnerable now have even less health care, thanks to Gov. BrownbackSam Brownback's crusade against the Kansas Arts CommissionSam Brownback downplays his involvement in creepy prayer rally