TOPEKA — Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt expects to be repeatedly asked two policy questions while campaigning for the Kansas Republican Party’s nomination for governor.
Both trace to her years representing a Topeka-area district in the Kansas Senate, but continue to resonate with voters because they delve into the volatile issues of taxation and abortion.
In 2012, Schmidt voted with Republican colleagues for a bill slashing state income taxes. It was signed by GOP Gov. Sam Brownback under the mistaken belief that lowering the tax burden on wealthy individuals would unleash trickle-down economic forces beneficial to all. Over the subsequent five years before repeal, revenue to the state treasury cratered. Lawmakers tried to fill the shortfall by raising the state sales tax and cutting budgets for core state services, including education and transportation.
“It is a vote I regret,” Schmidt said in an interview for the Kansas Reflector podcast. “There were a lot of Republicans, including me, that did vote for that.”