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Kan. lawmakers unsure sales tax changes should be in budget fix

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are wrestling with whether to end sales tax breaks in a larger plan to fix the state budget and raise additional funds for public schools.

Senate tax committee members were cold Wednesday toward a House-passed plan to raise $110 million over two years by imposing the state’s 6.5 percent sales tax on a few untaxed services. They include towing, pet boarding and bill-collecting.

The panel heard testimony from collection agency operators that their businesses would be harmed in competition with out-of-state firms.

But backers of the House bill are working on a new plan to raise about $330 million over two years by eliminating sales tax exemptions.

Kansas faces projected budget shortfalls totaling $887 through June 2019, and the Kansas Supreme Court has said education funding is inadequate.

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