Brown back Not Wortied By Missed Budget Predictions October 23, 2014

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback says he is not worried that the state is not meeting some of his budget projections.
The state has missed two of three monthly predictions since the fiscal year 2015 started in July. The projections were also off during some of the months earlier in the calendar year.
The tax receipts for September were off by 1.6%.
‘That’s right in the ballpark,” said Governor Brownback during a campaign stop in Kansas City, Kansas Thursday.
An assessment from the state’s non-partisan legislative research department, however says the September numbers hold more impact than a conventional monthly report.
“The month’s receipts include the first estimated payment of individual income taxes for the fiscal year. As such, September receipt balances are more of an indicator on the state’s economic activity than
only one month’s receipts,” accordng to the report.
The point of concern for some experts seems to be that the state income tax collections were off by more than 9% from the estimate.
The Governor countered says that the corporate tax receipts and the payroll tax numbers were up.
The state’s economy and the Brownback tax cuts enacted in his first term are major issues in the re-election campaign.
The state could be almost 240 million dollars short of expected funds in the coming year.
Brownback’s opponent, democrat Paul Davis says the Governor’s economic plans are not working. Davis says, if elected, he would freeze the Brownback tax cuts at the current levels
Davis and other critics say the state’s budget troubles may get worse in a second Brownback administration leading to more state program cuts.
The Governor has said repeatedly he has handled larger budget problems that the current situation

New Brownback Spot Accuses Davis of Being Soft on Crime October 21, 2014

Brownback & Davis Debate Brings up Same Sex Marriage October 21, 2014

(AP) – Republican Gov. Sam Brownback vowed Monday to defend Kansas’ ban on same-sex marriage, while Democratic challenger Paul Davis said during a debate Monday that there’s nothing either of them can do at this point because the matter is in the hands of the courts.

The issue came up during a televised debate at KWCH studios in Wichita in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this month that cleared the way for gay marriages in several states. The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking a court order that would allow gay marriages in Kansas, and a federal judge has set a hearing for Friday.

Kansas has a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage in its constitution. Davis was a lawmaker when the Legislature debated it, and he said Monday that he did not support the constitutional amendment because he believed it would have an adverse effect on the welcoming image the state has had for decades. But he added that the people of Kansas decided by a significant majority to put the prohibition in the constitution, and he respects that decision.

“The fact of the matter is that at this particular time there is nothing I can do, there is nothing Gov. Brownback can do to impact this issue,” Davis said. “It is in the court system.”

Brownback noted that 70 percent of Kansans voted for the amendment.

“There is something that Rep. Davis and I can do on this and that is as governor defend our constitution, and he is not even saying whether he would defend our constitution where our people have voted on this issue,” Brownback said.

Their final debate is Tuesday before the Kansas Association of Broadcasters meeting. The back-to-back appearances come amid recent independent polling that shows the race has tightened as outside money from groups has flooded into the state.

Davis is wooing moderate Republicans and unaffiliated voters who are worried about tax cuts enacted at Brownback’s urging. The cuts dropped the state’s top personal income tax rate by 26 percent and exempted the owners of 191,000 businesses from income taxes altogether.

“The governor’s experiment is not working and it is not going to work,” Davis said.

But the governor promised to keep pushing what he calls “a growth agenda and not a tax agenda.”

Brownback contends the tax cuts are boosting the economy, but the Legislature’s nonpartisan research staff predicts a $260 million budget shortfall by July 2016.

Education cuts have been a focus throughout the campaign and remained so in the latest encounter.

The Kansas Supreme Court has found the state’s education spending unconstitutional and ordered the state to better fund its schools. Brownback has steadfastly claimed he has increased education spending, while Davis contends the incumbent is misleading voters by counting outside factors such as pensions in his numbers.

Davis said his first priority if elected governor is to restore education funding.

Kansas Libertarian For Governor on De Sex Marriage: I Don’t Want Clerics Governing October 13, 2014

The Kansas Libertarian candidate for Governor says marriage marriage is a “fundamental right for opposite and same sex couples alike.”
Kenn Umbehr published an opinion piece Monday.
Umnehr is an attorney. In his piece, he described himself as a “constitutional conservative”, who supports all provisions of the constitution.
He says that means he supports free speech and freedom of expression for those he may disagree with.
Umbeher quoted a portion of the district court ruling in the Utah case, where that state’s ban on same sex marriages was struck down.”’ Appellants acknowledge that a state may not “invoke concerns about religious freedom or religion-related strike as a basis for denying rights otherwise guaranteed by the Constitution.
Umbehr wrote his support for same sex marriages conflict with his own beliefs.
He adds, “I do not want to live in a country or state governed by priests, pastors or theologians.”
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback says he supports the state constitutional ban. Brownback cited a 2005 vote where 70% of the voters voted to add the amendment to the Kansas constitution.
His Democratic opponent, Paul Davis has voted against same sex marriage bans in the past. But Davis has not said anything the US Supreme Court announcement calling the Kansas ban into question
More: http://www.keenforkansas.com

Davis’ Campaign Says Brownback Running. “Smear” Campaign, Cites Unhappy Brownback Voter E-mail October 10, 2014

Kansas Democratic Governor Paul Davis is pointing to an e-mail written by a Sam Brownback supporter as proof that the Governor’s campaign is going too far.
“This is character assassination, which is not a Kansas value,” said Davis’ running mate Jill Docking.
The Davis campaign is upset with another political commercial dealing with Davis’ presence in 1998 at drug raid in a southwest Kansas strip club.
Davis was not charged and the raid was not directed at him. The owner of the club, however, did face drug charges.
At one point the commercial said Davis worked for the suspected drug dealer. Davis worked for the law firm that represented the club owner prior to the raid. He said his boss at the law firm brought him to the club.
Davis was 26, and single at the time. When the story broke, however, he conceded he was ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
The commercial is from The Republican Governor’s Association (RGA).
Davis’ campaign also released an e-mail sent to Governor Sam Brownback’s official office.
The e-mail is signed from “David______(last name blacked out), Johnson County Kansas Republican”
“I plan to vote for Sam November,” it reads, “but the TV ad that I just saw infuriates me” he wrote.
He was referring to the second RGA commercial on the Davis strip club episode.
Governor Brownback press office confirms the e-mail arrived about 6:44 pm Thursday night
The write says as he was preparing dinner, his family saw the commercial on TV and his son asked him, “dad, what’s a strip club?”.
The writer blamed Brownback’s campaign for the commercial.
During a conference call with reporters, Davis supporters acknowledged the commercial was produced and paid for by a third party.
Political veteran Johnson County, former state senator dick bond called that separation between the RGA and the Brownback campaign, “a sham”.
“Because those ads are not run unless the candidate and the candidate’s staff gives their approval,” Bond said.
Jon Thompson of the RGA said his group have produced five campaign commercials to support Brownback’s reelection campaign. Polls show the Republican Governor in a tight race in a traditionally republican state.