Jan Resseger describes the after-effects of former Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s crash program to cut corporate and income taxes and expect an economic boom. The boom never came, but public services were strained to the breaking point.
Jan quotes liberally from Governing magazine:
Governing Magazine just published an extraordinary profile of Kansas state government—what was left of it after Sam Brownback’s tenure. Last November when a Democrat, Laura Kelly, took office, the new governor found herself assessing the damage from two terms of total austerity. Reporter, Alan Greenblatt describes a state unable to serve the public:
“To students of state politics, the failed Kansas experiment with deep cuts to corporate and income tax rates—which GOP Gov. Sam Brownback promised would lead to an economic flowering, and which instead led to anemic growth and crippling deficits—is well known. What is not as well understood, even within Kansas, is the degree to which years of underfunding and neglect have left many state departments and facilities hollowed out…. All around Kansas government, there are stories about inadequate staffing…. Staff turnover in social services in general and at the state prisons has led to dozens of missing foster children and a series of prison uprisings… During the Brownback administration, from 2011 to 2018, prison staff turnover doubled, to more than 40 percent per year, while the prison population increased by 1,400 inmates, or 15 percent. Guards have been burned out by mandatory over time and by pay scales that have failed to keep pace with increased insurance premiums and copays, let alone inflation. With inadequate and inexperienced staff, the prisons began employing a technique known as ‘collapsing posts,’ meaning some areas were simply left unguarded.”
The consequences for other states that tried to cut their way to prosperity were equally calamitous.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What I don’t understand is why the GOP is still saying tax cuts work. The only thing I can come up with is that some people want to keep all of their money and ANY tax is bad. Trickle down has proven to not work but it is still being said to be the way to stimulate the economy and help the poor and middle class.
Why not examine the failure that took place in Kansas?
Video: When Tax Cuts Failed
The Atlantic
Published on Apr 17, 2018
In 2012, Kansas passed one of the largest income tax cuts in the state’s history. Today, it serves as a cautionary tale
One of the reasons we bounced back better than a lot of other countries from the great recession is that Obama refused to go on the austerity route. As critical as I am of Obama’s education policy, I give him credit for keeping us from going over the cliff in 2008.
Here in Florida our right wing governor has make massive cuts to funding for local projects. He is also busy trying to destroy our public schools and replace them with private corporate schools. Even though Florida has had poor conservative leadership for many years, that unlike Kansas, the state gets so much outside money from tourists and out of state pensions, it has not felt the impact of so many tax cuts in the same way if it did not get an infusion of outside cash. Then the naive conservatives declare that tax cuts are working, even though it is the money coming from outside the state that keeps the economy humming.https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2019/06/21/governor-desantis-approves-91-billion-budget-after-slashing-131-million/1524285001/
Video: Do tax cuts spur growth? What we can learn from the Kansas budget crisis
PBS NewsHour
Published on Dec 7, 2017
Four years ago, businesses in Kansas went from paying over 6 percent taxes to paying nothing at all, as part of a Republican experiment to boost the limp state economy. But when the massive drop in tax revenue destabilized the economy lawmakers started slashing the budget and social programs and underfunding schools. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports on what happened next.
It’s a zombie myth that the GOP/libertarians trot out over and over again. The GOP lays waste the economy with their tax cuts, mainly benefitting the filthy rich billionaires and mega corporations, as they spend trillions on wars of choice, the military, occupations and far flung military bases. They pretend to be economically “conservative” when in reality they throw Molotov cocktails into the financial structure to have an excuse to cut, slice and dice the social safety net. Don’t even think about universal health care or tuition free university, how dare you, that’s communism. But the GOP is A-OK peachy keen for socialism for the rich, otherwise known as tax cuts.
The wealthy also do not mind being recipients of various forms of corporate welfare. We subsidize a lot of corporations and big Pharma’s research. Then, corporations overcharge the public to make more profit. https://thinkbynumbers.org/government-spending/corporate-welfare/corporate-vs-social-welfare/
But this is the story of a state budget. No spoils spent on wars, military, occupations, military bases. The “spoils” [lost state tax revenue] are just excess corp profits, used for outlandish CEO salaries, stock buybacks, & campaign donations for cooperating legislators – all stolen directly from public sch sys, child welfare, healthcare et al public services. No new jobs, no bounced-up state economy.
KS economy was in free-fall during Brownback’s 8-yr tenure as jobs were being lost in aerospace & aviation, & prices declining for ag prods & oil. Brownback’s “cure,” guaranteed to stimulate economy w/new jobs: a 25% cut in state revenues via rwnj twin policies of corp welfare + state budget austerity?!
The only good I can see coming out of this is, KS is a perfect case in point for how “trickle-down” policies harm don’t help, & it’s getting plenty of natl attention. I’m not so naive as to think other Rep-led states won’t continue to run it up the flagpole, but maybe, just maybe, public is catching on.
The thing I keep looking for – just at the state level [baby steps] – is for govt to assess their situation head-on, & do some creative problem-solving. When tradl sources of revenue are declining, indicating a major economic shift, there should be symposiums going on at govt level: what else do we have to offer? Can we attract something new, & how would we do it? Can we build on what remains? Should we be supporting small-biz & encouraging new startups? There seems to be no political will to acknowledge need for change. It’s always empty promises of quick fixes, disguising short-term shell games [vulture economy].
Thanks, for the video, Carol. Very informative.
Ditto. It was a good supplement to the post.
Diane, I want you and readers to know that, unfortunately, Governing is no longer going to be around to write these kinds of stories. We have always been on the side of government and the public servants, including school teachers, who work for government. As a former public official myself, I know that the work of actually governing is hard. Governments provide essential services, from public safety to infrastructure to education and health care, but perhaps the most important responsibility, and the hardest, is to be a careful fiscal steward. Bad financial choices can have huge and enduring consequences, as our story about Kansas demonstrates. https://www.governing.com/governing-to-close
Dear Mark,
I read in Politico that Governing will close, and I was very sorry to read that. Governing served an important purpose; there are a diminishing number of public watchdogs to protect the public interest.
Governing was one of them.
I am so sorry to hear that you are closing. i just discovered you right here. It is definitely our loss.
It’s sad to see because they’re robbing the next generation. I really don’t know how they justify this, to themselves. Just about all of the adults plundering that state benefited from public services growing up. They took what the generation prior provided to them and now they aren’t giving anything back for the next generation. They’re reneging on the deal when it comes time to pay.
People like Trump, the big corporations, some politicians and hedge fund managers are the mega “takers,” not immigrants and single mothers. I wish more people would wake up ready to dump all the kleptocrats.