Tax cuts in Kansas lead to job growth and wage growth
IBD:
...It turns out the New York Times and other liberal media were wrong when they predicted calamity from the tax cuts. Don't hold your breath waiting for an apology. They are probably still looking for an excuse. BTW, Missouri has a Democrat governor who has resisted measures to accomplish what Kansas has.
Back in 2012, Brownback cut the highest income-tax rate from 6.4% to 4.8% with the goal of eventually eliminating the state income tax entirely. The tax on small business income was zeroed out. It was denounced as "trickle-down economics," though the state's unemployment rate is now down to 4.5%.
"The number one complaint I'm hearing now," Brownback tells us, "is we can't find the workers. That's a good problem to have."
Where the jobs are really showing up is on the Kansas side of Kansas City. Because tax rates are lower in Kansas than in Missouri, the Kansas side of the metro area produced twice as many jobs as the Missouri side from 2012 to 2014.
The Kansas Policy Institute ran the numbers and found that "over the last two years — post-tax reform — private-sector jobs increased by 5.6% on the Kansas side of the metro and only 2.2% on the Missouri side." KPI president Dave Trabert notes: "You can observe firsthand businesses that have moved across the state border into Kansas in the Kansas City area."
Wages are also growing in Kansas. Before the tax cut, workers on KC's Kansas side earned 40 cents an hour more than Missouri workers. Now the gap is $3.
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