Kansas legislative briefs

TOPEKA | A tax break for job creation

Kansas has a new way to lure jobs to the Sunflower State.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Monday signed legislation allowing companies to keep a portion of their withholding taxes if they create jobs in Kansas. The more jobs created, the bigger the incentive; the bigger the salaries, the longer the companies could retain the withholding taxes.

Businesses hoping to get the incentive must provide health insurance to full-time employees. Certain industries would be ineligible. Missouri already has a similar program.

Rep. Marvin Kleeb, an Overland Park Republican who sponsored the legislation, noted that state government wouldn¡¯t lose any revenue because the incentive only applies to new jobs at companies relocating to or expanding in Kansas.

"This makes us so much more competitive," Kleeb said. "There's only one way to get out of this economic mess in Kansas and that's to grow ourselves out of it."