TUESDAY,JAN.29,2002
STATE NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Lobbyists battle Graves tax plan
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Some Republicans consider it the plan most likely to pass the Senate — if any tax increase will.
But the Assessment and Taxation Committee heard plenty of criticism yesterday about raising tobacco and alcohol taxes from lobbyists for merchants and liquor industry groups.
The proposal would raise $87 million during the state's 2003 fiscal year, which begins July 1. Its supporters hope the extra money would prevent a cut in aid to public schools.
But opponents said the tax increases would hurt sales in grocery and convenience stores and even cost Kansas jobs in a slumping economy.
the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States estimated that the state would lose $60 million in sales and 1,000 jobs
because of the higher alcohol taxes.
"Do not ask my industry to extract more taxes from its consumers until you have made every effort to ascertain whether those additional revenues are really required," said Tuck Duncan, lobbyist for the Kansas Wine and Spirits Wholesalers.
Thomas Palace, lobbyist for convenience stores, said cigarettes account for almost a quarter of his members' gross sales and that increasing the cigarette tax could push consumers into neighboring states.
Health advocates have rallied behind proposals to increase the cigarette tax, seeing it as a way to reduce smoking.
The only testimony yesterday in favor of the tax bill came from the Kansas Alcohol and Drug Service Providers Association, which said increasing alcohol taxes would reduce consumption.
"Do not ask my industry to extract more taxes from its
consumers..."
Tuck Duncan
lobbyist
Kansas Wine and Spirits Wholesalers
Johntown
"State liquor taxes have not been increased in years, and as the taxes are levied on quantity and not price, receipts have not kept place with inflation," lobbyist Dan Hermes said.
Senate President Dave Kerr, R Hutchinson, is supporting the plan and has said it has a reasonable chance of passing.
The proposal before the tax committee was drafted by Chairman David Corbin, R-Towanda, after conversations among GOP senators.
Corbin's plan is an alternative to a proposal from Gov. Bill Graves, who wants to increase sales, cigarette and motor fuels taxes and vehicle registration fees to raise $228 million in fiscal 2003.
The Corbin proposal would increase the cigarette tax by 35 cents a pack, making it 59 cents. Graves' plan contains a 65-cent increase. Corbin's hoped to vote quickly on the bill, but some senators wanted more time to consider other alternatives.
Unlike Graves, Corbin proposed increasing both the wholesale tax on other tobacco products and taxes on alcoholic beverages.
"There are other people who are looking at revenue generators," said Majority Leader Lana Oleen, R-Manhattan.
The tobacco products tax would double, to 20 percent. The tax on a 12-pack of Budweiser retailing for $8.59 would increase about 15 cents.
Museum site proposed at Clinton Lake
The Associated Press
LAWRENCE — A Lawrence historian thinks the area's past makes it the perfect location for a proposed national abolitionist movement museum. And the Army Corps of Engineers may have the land for it.
Martha Parker, executive director of the Clinton Lake Museum, said she has begun talks with the corps about an inexpensive or even no-cost lease for 20 acres at Clinton Lake.
"The feedback has been very positive," Parker said of the discussions. Parker said it would take awhile before an agreement was signed. The corps' operations manager at Clinton lake, Lew Ruona, said high-ranking corps officials have expressed project support, but they needed to make environmental and cultural assessments.
"We understand that this land has more uses than just strictly camping and picnicking. We have opened it up to all types of recreation and learning, and this would expand on that." Ruona said.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., proposed building a national-caliber abolitionist museum more than a year ago. Although no federal money has
emerged for the project, Brownback said it would within a few years.
Parker said the eastern Kansas panel hasn't endorsed a site. She began talking with the corps last summer under the belief that securing public land would give the Lawrence area an edge.
Not that she thinks Douglas County needs any more advantage than its abolitionist past, she said.
Parker said many of the 34 documented Underground Railroad sites in Douglas County are in the valley of the Wakarusa River, which feeds into the lake.
The area surrounding the lake was considered by many blacks to be a safe haven before the Civil War, Parker said.
"In this valley, you had two different races living together, farming together, fighting together, and when they died, they were buried together in an integrated cemetery at Clinton," Parker said.
"I refuse to have any negative thoughts about it," Parker said. "I drive across the dam on a regular basis, and I can already see it now."
Parker is hoping for a 2004 groundbreaking for the museum. No cost estimates have been formulated, but she is optimistic.
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