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Legislative staff lists nearly 100 state economic development programs; flags complexity and overlap
Summary
Eric Adele of the Kansas Legislative Research Department gave the committee a cataloged review of roughly 100 state economic development incentives, describing program categories, how major programs work (Apex, HPIP, PEAK, Angel investor and aviation credits), and noting varied administration and reporting across agencies.
Eric Adele, economist with the Kansas Legislative Research Department, presented committee members with an annotated inventory of roughly 100 state economic development programs and incentives on Sept. 24, grouping them into workforce development, business and industry development, infrastructure and community development categories.
Adele walked lawmakers through flagship programs: Apex (Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion), which gives refundable investment tax credits, payroll rebates, sales tax exemptions and training/relocation reimbursements to multi‑billion‑dollar projects and selected suppliers; HPIP (High‑Performance Incentive Program), a transferable 10% investment credit for qualifying capital spending and a nontransferable training credit; PEAK (Promoting Employment Across Kansas), which allows firms to retain up to 95% of state payroll withholding for qualifying jobs for as long as 10 years; the Angel Investor tax credit, a 50% cash investment credit capped per investor and per project; and the aviation and aerospace tax credits, which include employer hiring incentives and tuition reimbursement credits.
Adele noted important program details and limits: HPIP and Apex contain minimum investment thresholds that vary by county; some programs exclude participation in others (for example Apex participants may be ineligible for several other incentive programs); several programs carry annual or total reimbursement limits; and some incentives sunset or require legislative renewal.
Why it matters: Committee members probed utilization, caps and administration. Adele said Commerce has annual reports and that Department of Revenue tracks tax expenditures but that some program details (administration, whether credits were claimed, clawback provisions and historical usage) require follow‑up with Commerce or Revenue. He noted some credits have low or zero recent utilization and could be candidates for repeal or consolidation.
Bottom line: The session provided lawmakers a single reference of programs and preliminary data, but both Adele and committee members said further follow‑up is needed on program utilization, caps, interaction with local incentives and the degree to which each program meets its statutory purpose.
