learning from examples

In May 2012, all eyes were on Kansas as its former governor, Republican Sam Brownback, signed into law “the nation’s most aggressive experiment in conservative economic policy,” as Russell Berman wrote in The Atlantic. Kansas Senate Bill HB 2117 was one of the largest income tax cuts in the state’s history, entirely eliminating income taxes for the owners of nearly 200,000 pass-through businesses and decreasing taxes by 25% for the highest income rates. Brownback compared his fiscal policies with Reaganomics and promised a “prosperous future” for Kansas. He argued the cuts would pay for themselves by creating jobs and boosting the state’s economy.