TOPEKA — House Majority Leader Chris Croft told Johnson County Republicans in private Zoom calls in May that he wants to drive the corporate income tax rate to zero next year, and he tempered his enthusiasm for trying to lure the Kansas City Chiefs across state lines with concern about Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly taking credit.
Croft, an Overland Park Republican, touted his success in getting out-of-state financial support to help preserve the GOP supermajority in the Legislature. But he attributed state spending increases to his own party being “drunk” on money.
In a separate call in June, Rep. Adam Smith, a Weskan Republican who chairs the House tax committee, also pointed a finger at Republicans for inserting costly earmarks into the state budget.
Kansas Reflector obtained audio files from Zoom calls on May 10, May 31 and June 21. Screenshots show participants on the calls include GOP candidates for legislative races in Johnson County. Other participants include Karen Crnkovich, a congressional candidate who lost her primary election; Clay Barker, general counsel to Secretary of State Scott Schwab; and Debbie Detmer, a GOP precinct committeewoman in Shawnee who has protested the “indoctrination” of public school children.
The conversations, led by Croft, focus on legislative priorities, fundraising and campaigning.
“You know, in the last six years that the governor’s been there, and by the way, the six years I’ve been there, we’ve increased spending 56%,” Croft said. “It’s awful. We got to stop this. I mean, we’re just as drunk on that money as anybody else is. We got to stop doing that.”
The conversations foreshadow the GOP effort now underway to wrestle control of the budget process away from the governor and place it solely in the hands of lawmakers.
House Minority Leader Vic Miller, a Topeka Democrat, responded to the audio in a statement and offered a suggestion to Republicans.
“Perhaps instead of seizing power from the executive branch — effectively undermining our democratic system of checks and balances — my colleagues across the aisle should look at removing representatives who pervert the process for personal gain,” Miller said.
In the May 10 call, Croft said Republicans intentionally excluded corporate tax breaks from their efforts to provide individual tax relief.
But, he said, changing the corporate tax formula would be the “big thing” for next year.
The objective would be “reducing the corporate tax rate overall with the intent to drive it to zero,” Croft said.
Croft didn’t respond to an email seeking comment for this story.
Pam Shernuk, a former opinion contributor to Kansas Reflector and Democrat who is running against Croft, said she wasn’t surprised by Croft’s behind-the-scenes comments. The plan to drive the corporate tax rate to zero is reminiscent of former Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax experiment, she said, which created budget shortfalls, led to drastic cuts in education and infrastructure, created no return in business investments or jobs, and shifted the tax burden to individuals.
“What my opponent says to voters at the doors and in his mailers is much different than what he says behind closed doors,” Shernuk said.
“Voters deserve honesty, accountability and integrity. I support tax relief for working families, seniors and veterans in Kansas — not giant, multinational corporations. Our district has received a number of negative mailers about me in the past few weeks, all paid for by the same dark money groups that are behind the 0% corporate tax rate.
