Here is an Op-Ed piece from Alan Cobb, Americans for Prosperity - Kansas, entitled "Yes, But It's Only $1.3 Billion."

Is access to business health insurance through government programs a better solution for small businesses than free-market access?  Let's take a look at two possible government programs in Kansas. 

As a resident of Kansas, you, your family, and your employees have access to a FREE Prescription Discount Drug Card program.

This is an actual case of how a Health Savings Account arrangement provided an excellent solution for a small business. 

David Matkin, a doctoral candidate in the K.U. Department of Public Administration, iintroduced a report on February 1, 2007 in the Kansas Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee. He had interviewed 16 executives from 12 corporations which claimed corporate income tax incentive credits in Kansas during the past 8 years, and received extensive help from the Kansas Department of Revenue and the Kansas Department of Commerce.  This is a summary of some of his findings, with Ken Daniel's comments inserted.   

It is highly unlikely that any tax proposals that will help small business will be considered by the 2009 Kansas Legislature.  Big business would like its special programs renewed, increased, and simplified, but does not want small businesses to share in them.  They are being supported by the Kansas Department of Revenue.   

The Center for Applied Economics at K.U., part of the School of Business, has ferreted out some very interesting information from a national database. For the 15-year period 1990 through 2004, only 3.2% of new jobs created in Kansas were created by companies moving into Kansas from outside the state.

Ken Daniel, publisher of KsSmallBiz.com, opines on the subject of consultants.

Now is the time for the Kansas Legislature to start paying our home-grown businesses for serving as their sales tax collectors.

Beverly Gossage is a Kansas resident and health insurance broker. She is undoubtedly the top expert on Health Savings Account arrangements in Kansas. She was the key player in the insurance "non-connector" established in Missouri, signed into law a couple of weeks ago. This is her article about that success. Her design will be closely studied in Kansas and in many other states.

Greg Scandlen, one of the nation's top experts on consumer-directed health care and President of "Consumers for Health Care Choices", reviews the new book "Who Killed Health Care?" by Regina Herzlinger of Harvard Business School.  This book does an excellent job of defining the problems in the U.S. health care system, and that enables us to start working on realistic solutions. 

The National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation is a highly respected source of information about the attitudes of small business owners.  This big survey, done in March and April 2007, features some very well-written questions.  It also contains some very interesting information about attitudes, some of it very surprising. 

Here are the results of the survey on gambling legislation sent to TIBA members and prospective members March 27.