Revenue Secretary Jordan Wraps Up Western Kansas Tour

Revenue Secretary Nick Jordan wrapped up a two day, five city listening tour of western Kansas on Wednesday afternoon with a stop in Salina.

“Gov. Brownback is developing a new tax policy proposal to boost the Kansas economy and wants to ensure we heard from a broad array of Kansans, particularly those in the rural areas of our state,” Jordan said.

During the stops in Great Bend, Garden City, Colby, Hays and Salina, people shared ideas about how changes to tax policy would affect their businesses, local government and economic development.

Jordan noted that, from his experience as a state lawmaker and in the tourism industry, he was keenly aware of how decisions made in Topeka could impact local communities. He emphasized that the tax policy proposal was being developed so it would not harm local government, but rather boost the economy.

“I enjoyed making my first trip back to western Kansas as revenue secretary and hearing people’s thoughts,” Jordan said. “Kansans are wonderful people – creative, resourceful and pragmatic. The key message I heard over and over was ‘We all want to grow a better Kansas with a thriving economy and more jobs in our state.’”

Once the Governor releases a plan, there will be about two months to gather additional public comment before the legislative session begins in January. When the legislative session begins, all 165 lawmakers will have a chance to hold hearings and fully review the proposal.

The goal of the plan will be to simplify the state tax code in order to increase net personal income and increase private sector employment in keeping with the governor’s roadmap for Kansas.