Senate President Ty Masterson on Wednesday secured the endorsement of Americans for Prosperity, giving him another advantage in a crowded Republican primary for governor.
“This year’s election is a critical opportunity to elect a principled conservative leader to the governor’s mansion after eight years of constant blockades by progressive Gov. Laura Kelly that held our state back from its full potential,” said Elizabeth Patton, regional director for AFP in Kansas.
“Sen. Masterson is a proven policy champion with a consistent record of prioritizing and accomplishing commonsense legislation and several veto overrides including major income tax reform, lowering the cost of living for Kansans and making our state a place where small businesses can grow and thrive,” Patton said.
The latest support comes after Masterson won the endorsement of President Donald Trump and Kansans for Life.
He’s running for the Republican nomination for governor against Johnson County businessman Philip Sarnecki, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, former Johnson County Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara, Wichita businesswoman Stacy Rogers and Nick Reinecker.
In a post on social media, Sarnecki, without addressing anyone specifically, said “lobbyists and special interests are panicking.”
“They see the momentum in this campaign and they’re afraid to lose their power in Topeka,” he posted, referring to the “Topeka swamp” in a video he posted from his vehicle.
“The attacks are coming from the lobbyists and the political opposition. Some of these people are vile and are sick,” he wrote.
Masterson has traditionally been a supporter of income tax cuts, most recently backing a bill supported by AFP last year that gradually moved the state to a single tax rate as income tax revenues beat inflation.
The bill gradually cuts individual income taxes to 4% when the state generates $5.96 billion dollars that come from income taxes plus inflation.
The bill would keep taxes from being lowered if the state’s rainy-day fund, which totals about $2 billion currently, dips below 15% of state general fund tax receipts. Individual income tax rates would be reduced first and then the tax rates for corporations as well as banks.
So far, the law has not led to a tax cut despite better-than-project revenues.
The governor vetoed the bill. The Kansas Senate voted 30-10 to override the veto. The House voted 87-37 to override the governor’s veto.
Last year, Masterson sided with AFP on a bill signed into law by the governor that prohibited a state court or an administrative hearing officer from deferring to an executive branch agency’s interpretation of certain statutes, rules and regulations.
He also supported a constitutional amendment calling for the election of Supreme Court justices that will be voted on this August.
And he supported a bill intended to create a climate for Kansas entrepreneurs to test novel business ideas in a setting where rules and regulations are temporarily or permanently waived.
The governor vetoed the bill but the Senate voted 30-10 for the override.
Last session, Masterson supported a bill that created a streamlined process for certain housing developments, including single-family homes and townhouses as well as secondary housing units on the same lot.
The goal of the bill – signed into law by the governor – was intended to foster construction of more housing to address statewide housing shortages and promote affordable housing.
The bill required regulatory authorities to approve these types of developments as a matter of right and without discretionary review or approval if they meet the criteria in the zoning code, land-use regulations and applicable subdivision statutes and regulations.
The bill passed 35-4 in the Senate with bipartisan support although the two Democratic senators running for governor split on the bill.
Last year, Masterson voted to override the governor’s veto of an AFP-backed bill that required new occupational licenses and changes to existing licenses adopted by certain executive branch agencies to be approved by the Legislature.
Three years ago, Masterson supported a bill backed by AFP that prohibited state agencies and other political subdivisions from giving
preferential treatment to or discriminating against companies based on environmental, social, or governance principles in procuring or letting contracts. The bill became law without the governor’s signature.
