TOPEKA (AP) – Economist and former Reagan administration adviser Arthur Laffer has been promoting Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s income tax plan after having helped shape it.

Laffer told reporters before speaking to the Senate tax committee that Brownback’s plan will help the poor because it will create prosperity.

He’s a consultant for the administration.

His appearance came two days after the release of new state figures showing that Brownback’s tax overhaul proposal would increase the total tax burden for low-income Kansans. People with
adjusted gross incomes of $25,000 or less a year would pay $156 more on average. Brownback would cut rates but eliminate credits and deductions.

Laffer says such an analysis is static and doesn’t consider how tax policy spurs business and job growth.