Committee Minutes — HB2757
Thu, Feb 26, 2026

Vice Chair Turner opened the hearing for HB2757.

Adam Siebers, Office of Revisor of Statutes, provided an overview for HB2757 stating following are the four component parts of the bill: (Attachment 1)

  • First is the discontinuation of active credits.
  • Second would be a statutory repeal of previously discontinued credits.
  • Third are changes to the high performance incentive program also referred to as HPIP.
  • Fourth would be an extension of certain tax credits.

Mr. Siebers stood for questions from Committee members.

Kathleen Smith, Kansas Department of Revenue, provided an overview on the fiscal note for HB2757 that is estimated to decrease State General Fund revenues in FY2028 and FY2029 by $170.0 million. Ms. Smith noted the following three parts of HB2757 and the fiscal impact:

  • Angel Investor Tax Credit would be extended from tax year 2026 to tax year 2031. The Department looked at prior years and the total tax credit is capped at $8.0 million and would be fully used for fiscal years going forward.
  • Aviation and Aerospace tax credit. The Department looked at past years of the credits that had been used and estimated the fiscal impact for FY2028 and FY2029 would be $8.2 million.
  • HPIP on expanding the wage requirement, the Department estimated it would increase HPIP eligibility by approximately 98.0 percent and looking at the credits that have been used in the past it is estimated to be $153.9 impact to the State General Fund. Ms. Smith noted the Department made a request to get additional information from the Department of Commerce on HPIP and that information came in.  If a revision is to be made, the Department will send out the revised fiscal impact for HB2757.

  Ms. Smith stood for questions from Committee members.

Proponents:

Representative Smith resumed the Chair.

Eric Stafford, Kansas Chamber, testified as a proponent for HB2757 providing a list of twenty recommended tax credits to eliminate that are under utilized or ineffective in his testimony.  The tax credits were presented to the Interim Special Committee on Taxation in the fall of 2025.  He noted this is a starting point and we must protect the positive incentive programs Kansas offers. (Attachment 2)

Mr. Stafford stood for questions from Committee members.

Written only proponent testimony for HB2757 was submitted by Greg Kindle, President, Kansas Economic Development Alliance, (Attachment 3)

In response to Representative Sawyer-Clayton's question, Dusty Friesz, Vice President of Finance, Real Estate and Tax, Black & Vetch, provided information on the differentiation between ESOP and a typical flow through in the ESOP structure.  The sole shareholder of the company is a trust, a retirement program and part of the 401K plan.   Each year as Black & Vetch grows and has profits, the company is able to return those profits to the employee owners through contributions to the 401K ESOP program at no cost to the employee owners because the ESOP structure is a non-taxable exempt retirement plan.  He noted the ESOP itself cannot utilize the credits because it doesn't pay Kansas taxes on a current basis.  The way the taxes are paid to the state of Kansas is through the employee owners.  When the employee retires and receives their profit distribution from selling their shares in their retirement plan, they pay Kansas taxes at ordinary rates when those profits come out.

Opponents:

Jessica Lucas, President, Friends of Cedar Crest Association, testified as an opponent with an amendment for HB2757. The amendment to the the bill includes the Friends of Cedar Crest Association and the Eisenhower Foundation in the tax credits offered by the state, using the same parameters established in 2020 when the tax credits were first award. Ms. Lucas requested the repeal language be removed from HB2757 and to extend the Friends of Cedar Crest tax credit for an additional five years. (Attachment 4) 

Ms. Lucas stood for questions from Committee members.

Joseph Taylor, Kansas citizen, testified as an opponent for HB2757 noting the direct and indirect tax expenditures cannot be justified and should be viewed by taxpayers as simple giveaways because they do not incent future growth for the state of Kansas. (Attachment 5) 

Mr. Taylor stood for questions from Committee members.

Neutral:

Rachel Willis, Director of Legislative Affairs, Kansas Department of Commerce, testified as neutral to HB2757 that cleans up the statute book, strengthens two of the state's economic development tools, and allows the state to continue to recruit and retain businesses across Kansas. Commerce is neutral to HB2757 and requests that the HPIP wage standard be set at 130.0 percent rather than 125.0 percent. (Attachment 6)

Ms. Willis stood for questions from Committee members.

Chairperson Smith closed the hearing for HB2757.