Kansas Chamber to Lay Out 2014 Agenda Tuesday

(AP) – Leaders of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce are preparing to outline their agenda for the 2014 legislative session and give an assessment of the state’s business climate.

Chamber president and CEO Mike O’Neal scheduled a briefing Tuesday on what the organization’s members hope lawmakers will accomplish in their annual session, which begins Jan. 13.

O’Neal is a former Republican House speaker from Hutchinson.

In recent years, the chamber has been influential in helping Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and the GOP-controlled Legislature push through cuts in the state’s income tax rates. O’Neal was speaker in 2012 when the first reductions were approved.

Critics of the cuts say they are too deep and will lead to reduced state services.