TOPEKA | The fate of a 1-cent sales tax increase hung in the balance as Kansas lawmakers worked late into Monday night and early today to finish the 2010 session.

The Kansas House voted 63-61 late Monday to send a sales tax increase to Democratic Gov. Mark Parkinson. But it’s not a done deal — as of midnight, opponents were holding the vote open, meaning it wasn’t official.

Supporters said the increase was the only way to preserve investment in public education and the social safety net for the elderly, poor and disabled.

With the year’s key battle reaching a climax, lawmakers hoped to adjourn their 2010 session late Monday. The fate of other bills, including a ban on texting while driving, a tougher seat belt law and a 10-year transportation plan, remained uncertain as lawmakers worked into the night.

The sales tax increase would cost the average Kansas family an extra $266 per year.

Parkinson, the first to suggest using higher sales taxes to avoid deeper spending cuts, is expected to sign the bill if it reaches his desk.

The increase would take the state sales tax from 5.3 to 6.3 percent starting July 1. In 2013, the rate would drop to 5.7 percent, with the remaining increase set aside for transportation projects.

The higher tax would raise an estimated $314 million a year, enough to fund the $13.6 billion budget approved by lawmakers. That budget restores some funds for corrections and social services that were cut last year. It also would use state funds to make up for $172 million in federal stimulus dollars that school districts will lose next year.

Lawmakers who supported the tax increase called it the best of several bad options. They pointed to more than $1 billion in reductions to education, social services, prisons and other services last year and said any further cuts would have hurt the state’s most vulnerable citizens.

“What do you want to do? Cut more from schools, the disabled and the elderly? Do you want more people released early from prison?” asked Rep. Nile Dillmore, a Wichita Democrat. “Or do you want to see the sales tax increased by a penny? Is a penny worth those cuts?”

But conservative Republicans warned of dire consequences to families and businesses struggling to beat the recession. They noted that most of Kansas’ neighbors have lower state sales tax rates, and said the state could have cut spending without grave reductions to services.

“We are voting to put Kansans out of work,” said Rep. Lance Kinzer, an Olathe Republican. “This doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t think it will make sense to the people of Kansas.”

Opponents also warned that the tax increase will never be rolled back as planned.

“It’s like a junkie with cocaine,” said Rep. Joe Patton, a Topeka Republican. “He won’t be able to cut the habit.”

Supporters of the tax increase countered that the conservatives’ preferred budget, which didn’t require a state tax boost, would have forced school districts to raise local taxes. And they said cutting schools and social services would have hurt the economy more than the sales tax increase.

Though momentum for the tax increase built all session, its fate in the House was uncertain as late as Monday evening. The bipartisan coalition supporting the increase was in danger of fragmenting over a failed school finance bill sought by Johnson County lawmakers.

That bill, which would have allowed districts to increase the amount of local property taxes they can use, was opposed by lawmakers in less wealthy areas. It failed in the House on Monday, and the moderates threatened to drop their support for the tax plan.

Yet hours later they dropped the threat and voted yes to the increase. Rep. Pat Colloton, a Leawood Republican, said she felt an obligation to support the tax increase because she’d voted for the budget. And she noted the tax increase would allow the schools to get the same level of funding they received this year.

“While we wanted to do more, we did get the basic financial component the schools needed,” she said. “That’s worth millions to Blue Valley, Olathe and Shawnee Mission” school districts.

The key moment came late Monday afternoon when the Senate agreed to the House budget proposal, voting to send the spending blueprint on to Parkinson.

That short-circuited a last-minute attempt by conservatives to create a new budget proposal in the hopes of avoiding a tax increase.

In other legislative news:

•The House passed a bill outlawing texting while driving. The bill still needed final approval in the Senate before heading to Parkinson.

The bill would make it a crime to send or receive text messages while driving, but it wouldn’t prohibit the use of cell phones.
Violators would be subject to $100 fines for a first offense. Subsequent offenses would be misdemeanors. Any texting motorist who causes an injury accident also would face misdemeanor charges.

The Senate initially endorsed the bill early in the session, and Parkinson has said he supports it.

Twenty-three states restrict texting while driving. Kansas and Missouri already prohibit young drivers from texting while driving.