By STEPHEN KORANDA & CELIA LLOPIS-JEPSEN

House and Senate negotiators struck a tentative deal Wednesday to prevent changes in federal tax law from ratcheting up state taxes for Kansans.

The Senate wanted broader tax cuts in the same bill, but couldn’t coax the House team to go along.

Rep. Steve Johnson, who chairs the House tax committee, said his chamber didn’t want to go beyond addressing the federal impact in ways that would produce deeper cuts to state government revenue.

“It’s all of the tax cuts and these targeted tax cuts that have given us heartburn,” he said.

Legislative staff and the Kansas Department of Revenue estimate the bill now on the table would cost the state about $80 million in revenue for the fiscal year that starts in July.

After Congress’ overhaul of taxes last year, it seemed some Kansans would end up paying more to the state because of changes to deductions and itemizing.

Legislative leaders want to avoid that by ensuring those Kansans can still itemize on state tax returns. The Senate pushed through a bill to that effect last month, arguing the state couldn’t, in good conscience, profit from the federal reforms.

“The surplus from this unanticipated windfall,” Republican Senate President Susan Wagle urged, “should be returned to the Kansas taxpayers.”

But the Senate wanted tax cuts for Kansans beyond that. Its bill raised the standard deduction and fully reinstated deductions for mortgage interest, property taxes and medical expenses.

Senate negotiator Caryn Tyson, who is running for Congress, argued that after the Legislature passed a two-year $1.2 billion hike last year, raising the standard deduction would help all Kansans now looking at larger tax bills.

But with the state recovering from years of fiscal woes and facing pressure from the Kansas Supreme Court to increase funding for public schools, the House balked at that idea.

Ultimately senators backed down on the standard deduction during Wednesday’s negotiations. They compromised with the House, too, on restoring the mortgage interest and other targeted deductions immediately. Instead those will be phased in.

Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for KPR a partner in the Kansas News Service. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda. 

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ. 

DOUGLAS COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an armed robbery and have a suspect in custody.

Just before 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, police attempted to perform a traffic stop in north Lawrence on a green Dodge pickup driven by a suspect believed to have committed a previous armed robbery, according to Sgt. Amy Rhoads.

The driver, identified as 29-year-old Theoplis Lee Ellis of Kansas City fled southbound on 2^nd Street toward downtown Lawrence. Police decided to terminate the pursuit due to safety concerns.

At approximately 12:43 p.m. the same vehicle was observed westbound on 7th Street from the downtown area. Officers swarmed the area to locate the vehicle, and witnesses reported seeing the vehicle driving recklessly on Iowa Street and attempted to stop the vehicle, but it fled southbound.

The driver then entered Kansas 10 eastbound from Iowa Street, with officers pursuing. Somewhere between Michigan Street and Louisiana Street the suspect vehicle left the highway to the south and officers lost sight of the vehicle as it traveled off road.

A county deputy in the area then located the vehicle a short time later, wrecked down an embankment in the area near where E 1400 Road crosses the Wakarusa River.

Deputies located and took Ellis into custody. He was transported to an area hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries sustained in the crash.

During the pursuit, a police vehicle was involved in a collision at 25th Street and Iowa Street. Initial information indicates the marked police vehicle was southbound on Iowa Street, involved in the pursuit, when an eastbound vehicle entered the intersection. The two vehicles collided. The driver of the other vehicle was transported to an area hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The officer involved was not injured. The department’s Accident Investigations Unit is conducting the investigation into the crash.

PAWNEE COUNTY —A Kansas man had admitted his role in the 2015 drug related death of a 33-year-old man in Larned.

On Tuesday,  James Allen Roe, 58, Larned, waived his preliminary hearing in District Court and entered a no contest plea to involuntary manslaughter, a severity level 5 person felony, according to the Pawnee County Attorney.

Authorities originally charged Roe with one count of distribution of a controlled substance causing death alleged to have occurred in Pawnee County on or about July 27, 2015.

The controlled substance alleged to have been distributed was a fentanyl transdermal patch. The charge stems from an ongoing investigation by the Larned Police Department and Coroner Dr. Lyle Noordhoek related to the accidental overdose death of Ryan J. Henderson.

Henderson was found non-responsive at his residence in Larned the morning of July 28, 2015.  He was 33 at the time of this death.

Larned Police Department arrested Roe at his home on January 30, 2018, without incident. He currently released on a supervised bond. Sentencing has been scheduled for June 25.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – A Honduran man has admitted in federal court in Kansas City that he entered the U.S illegally for the 11th time.

Federal prosecutors say 33-year-old Jose Salazar-Aguilar pleaded guilty Wednesday. It was his second conviction for illegally entry into the country.

He faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison because he already was a convicted felon.

Salazar-Aguilar was arrested in February 2017 in Kansas City for drunken driving and resisting arrest. After he was released on bond, he was arrested by federal agents.

He also has previous convictions for delivery and possession of a controlled substance and forgery.

Prosecutors say he was last deported from the U.S. in August 2013.

SEWARD COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating two suspect on drug charges.

Just after 4:30a.m. Tuesday, the Liberal Police Department Special Response Team served a search warrant at a residence in the 100 block of Harold Boulevard in furtherance of an ongoing drug investigation, according to Captain Patrick McClurg. Police seized quantities of suspected marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine.

The residence was occupied by three persons at the time of the search warrant service.  A 22 year old male and a 21 year old female were taken into custody without incident.  The couple’s child was taken into protective custody.  No injuries were reported.

Affidavits of probable cause will be submitted to the Seward County Attorney’s Office seeking charges of distribution of methamphetamine, distribution of marijuana, distribution of heroin, possession of drug paraphernalia, no drug tax stamp, aggravated child endangerment and interference with law enforcement.

Police did not release names of the suspects.