Massive Tax Cut Experiment Failed in Kansas
SANCHEZ: Optimistic members of Congress hope to put a tax reform bill on the president's desk for signature before the end of the month. Senate Republicans gave President Trump a major victory this weekend by narrowly passing their version of tax reform. The vote came in the wee hours of Saturday morning with some changes happening practically at the last minute, hand-written changes. At least one Republican senator admits that he didn't read every single word of the final version. Listen to this.</s>SEN. TIM SCOTT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I went through the entire deal. I'm not going to say I read every single letter on every single page because 470 pages, and its last power, I did not read the 470 pages, but have I read every aspect of that bill before it was fused together? The answer is yes. We have had the chance over the last three years since I've been on the committee to work on every aspect of the bill.</s>SANCHEZ: The Senate bill and its tax cuts is a framework that one state put into effect a few years ago. It was an experiment that critics say simply didn't work in Kansas. Here's CNN's Jason Carroll.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kansans, it has been said, know a few things about their barbecue. (</s>On camera): How's the barbecue?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really good. I'm really full now.</s>CARROLL (voice-over): And they have plenty to say about their state's effort at tax reform.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it hurt the quality of life in Kansas.</s>CARROLL: The so-called experiment was supposed to be a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy. That's how the state's Republican governor Sam Brownback sold it in 2012.</s>GOV. SAM BROWNBACK (R), KANSAS: Now for those who come to our state because of lower taxes, opportunities abound.</s>CARROLL: Income taxes cut across the board, for some eliminated entirely. Their predicted result? Less taxes, more jobs, middle class families will win. (</s>On camera): How would you describe what it was -- what it was like?</s>KELLEY JAMES, HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: Delusional.</s>CARROLL (voice-over): Kansas high school teachers like Kelley James saw deep cuts in education funding.</s>JAMES: Very disillusioned. I don't understand how our government has let this get to this point. I don't understand how our citizens will let this get to this point.</s>CARROLL: Now James' sponge class projects like this one out of her own pocket. Still there are shortfalls she cannot make up for.</s>JAMES: We have three counselors for 1400 students.</s>CARROLL (on camera): I'm sorry, you have three?</s>JAMES: Three. And they're amazing. They're the greatest women you'll ever meet. We have three counselors for 1400 students.</s>CARROLL (voice-over): Kansas City, Kansas, along with several other school districts sued the state. This year the courts ruled the state had not met its constitutional obligation to fund the schools, but it wasn't just schools that took a hit. Medicaid, infrastructure, and other state services saw cuts. Critics of the experiment say the winners here, those who were already well off, like Architect Jim Lichty.</s>JIM LICHTY, ARCHITECT: I have $20,000 a year wind fall. I can understand the theory, but we've seen it doesn't work. It didn't work with me. I took the 20 grand and put it in my pocket.</s>CARROLL: But there are some who feel the experiment could have worked if given more time.</s>DAVE SCHULTE, KANSAS VOTER: The patience of the state wasn't there to enable the plan to work as it was -- as it was expected to work.</s>CARROLL: But this June, after five years of the plan, the legislature overruled a veto by the governor and ended the Kansas tax experiment.</s>MELISSA ROOKER, KANSAS STATE HOUSE: A failure. A disaster.</s>CARROLL: Republican lawmakers like Melissa Rooker joined a bipartisan effort to increase taxes. That's right. Republicans voted to increase taxes to make up for shortfalls created by the plan.</s>ROOKER: If you look at the definition of conservative. It means measured, careful. What has happened in Kansas was radical and what's happening elsewhere, to me, feels radical.</s>CARROLL: Kansans say lawmakers in Washington looking at tax reform could learn from their mistakes.</s>ROOKER: Collaboration and compromise matter. Being able to talk to people you don't agree with matters.</s>CARROLL: Perhaps over a plate of barbecued ribs. Jason Carroll, CNN, Overland Park, Kansas.</s>SANCHEZ: Some implosions go as planned, others don't. The story of the football stadium that refuses to die. Next.