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Dec. 15, 2019
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Minutes for HB2133 - Committee on Appropriations

Short Title

Joint revenue estimates, move April 20 date to May 1.

Minutes Content for Wed, Feb 8, 2017

Chairman Waymaster opened the hearing on the bill.

Jill Wolters, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, presented the bill brief (Attachment 1).  This bill would change the Joint estimates of revenue date from April 20  to May 1.

Shawn Sullivan, Director, Division of Budget, presented testimony as a proponent of the bill (Attachment 2). He reviewed the Consensus Revenue Estimating (CRE) Work Flow as related to CRE Ancillary Meetings, Economic Outlook Meeting and Revenue Estimating Meeting.  Estimating revenues have not been accurate due to the significant change in the tax policy, the economic impact on oil and gas, and agriculture.  A task force comprised of CPAs and financial services professionals, examined the revenue estimating and fiscal note process for improvement. Thirteen recommendations were identified, and included postponing the statutory CRE deadline from April 20 to May 1 or 3rd was recommended. This would provide the group a higher level of accuracy in regards to income tax collections and tax projections for the out year creating a more stable budgetary environment, he added.

Director Sullivan responded to questions from committee members regarding any impact the date change would have on the session timeline. He stated that the majority of the tax collections and projections would be better identified in late April.  In addition to the date change, a sophisticated approach to analyze economic inflections was also recommended.  The composition of the estimating group, followed. Actual growth projections are based on personal income, unemployment, wage growth, farm commodities and the agriculture sector.  A 1 percent growth rate was projected for this year. As requested, additional information on the actual growth for the past several years will be forthcoming. No discussion has been held regarding monthly estimates reports changing to year-to year reporting, which was recommended for further discussion after this session, he added.

Jill Wolters, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, responded to questions from committee members regarding the background on CRE. This was enacted by statute in 1990 and amended in  April 2003 and 2004, which changed the CRE date to the 22nd of April.  In 2004, the annual CRE date was changed to April 20th, she stated.

Dave Trabert, Kansas Policy Institute, presented testimony as a proponent of the bill (Attachment 3).  He stated that moving the estimating date would provide more accurate information.  He reviewed the impact on the  federal capital gains tax rate change in 2013,

Written testimony as a proponent of the bill was provided to committee members by Eric Stafford (Attachment 4), Kansas Chamber and Sam Williams, Acting Secretary, Kansas Department of Revenue (Attachment 5.)

Chairman Waymaster closed the hearing on the bill.