Kansas Governor to Veto Tax Bill

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is preparing to make good on a pledge to veto a bill increasing personal income taxes as a budget fix.

Brownback has a Statehouse news conference scheduled Wednesday morning to act. He told a Kansas Chamber of Commerce banquet Tuesday night that he would veto the measure.

It would raise more than $1 billion over two years, starting in July. It would also roll back key tax policies Brownback has championed by raising income tax rates and ending an exemption for more than 330,000 farmers and business owners.

Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since GOP lawmakers slashed income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging.

The bill passed with bipartisan majorities but not by the two-thirds margins necessary to override a veto.

(KA)