Kansas senator files bill to change allocation of bistate tax

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- An outspoken opponent of the bistate sales tax has filed a bill in the Kansas Senate that would guarantee the state at least 45 percent of the proceeds if the tax is approved again.

Not only would Sen. Kay O'Connor's bill change the way the money is allocated, it also would put the entire bistate process on hold until the Missouri General Assembly enacted the same provision.

"It's a fairness issue," she said. "The first bistate was 100 percent for the state of Missouri."

The first bistate tax was approved in 1996 to help fund renovation of Union Station and development of Science City. That one-eighth-cent tax expired last year, and proponents are looking for a new bistate proposal to put before voters.

A similar bill failed last year, but the Olathe Republican is confident her legislation will have better luck this time.

Last May, the Senate approved the measure as an amendment to a bill, but a Senate-House negotiating committee dropped the bistate provisions.

Stands scant chance

Sen. David Adkins, R-Leawood, opposes O'Connor's bill. Even if the measure makes it through the conservative-controlled House, he said, it stands scant chance of becoming law.

Democrat Kathleen Sebelius, who takes over this week as Kansas governor, has told the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce that she supports the bistate tax concept, Adkins said.

Based on that support, he said, Sebelius probably would veto the bill if it reaches her desk.

If the bill is passed, even if vetoed later, it would sow much confusion and uncertainty in the Kansas City area about any future bistate plan, Adkins said.

Lawmakers convene Monday in Topeka for the new legislative session. O'Connor's measure is Senate Bill No. 1, and is titled the Bistate Revenue Equity Act.