Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is critical of tax legislation which passed Thursday. A bill that would reduce taxes for Kansas residents passed in the Senate 24-16. The House previously approved it 76-43.

Critics say the bill would reduce state revenues by $500 million over three years. The Governor is among those critics.

In a release, Kelly said:

“Just two short years ago, the State of Kansas was on the brink of financial disaster. Our state faced a massive, self-inflicted budget crisis that caused three credit downgrades and devastating budget cuts. The consequences of those cuts were real and painful. In 2017, we defied the odds, acknowledged the mistake, and ended the experiment in a historic act of bipartisanship. Since then, Kansas has seen a gradual recovery. My administration has only just begun to repair the severe damage done in the last eight years. Our recovery is tenuous; our budget is fragile. This is not the time to make significant changes to our tax code. Senate Bill 22 will absolutely undue all the progress we’ve made. It will put our state once again in a self-inflicted budget crisis forcing hardships on our schools, our highway program, our most vulnerable children and our economy. The State of Kansas cannot afford to go backwards.”

The legislation may prompt the Governor’s first veto. As passed, there are nor enough votes to override a veto.  To override it, House Republicans would need 8 more votes and Senate Republicans would need 3 more.