TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas legislative study committee is having two days of hearings to examine tax exemptions and credits for businesses, nonprofit groups and others.

The Special Committee on Taxation Committee meeting that begins Thursday is an outgrowth of the Legislature’s debate earlier this year on raising taxes to balance the state budget.

The Republican-dominated Legislature increased sales and cigarette taxes to avert a deficit in the $15.3 billion budget. But some conservatives argued that the state wouldn’t need to boost tax rates if it eliminated some of the dozens of tax breaks in state law.

Some GOP leaders were skeptical because efforts over the past 25 years to repeal tax breaks generally have failed when the beneficiaries make policy and political cases for them. But Republican leaders agreed to a study.