The Kansas economy is lagging, even by Sam Brownback’s own standards

Last week, we reported how the Kansas economy continues to swirl around the drain, based on findings released by the U.S. Census Bureau that found only two states had steeper revenue declines than the Sunflower State.

A few critics of the report responded that state budgets don’t equal overall economic health. Then again, cash-strapped school districts don’t contemplate ending the school year prematurely in a strong economy.

Gov. Sam Brownback’s office last week lamented the water-torture drip, drip, drip of bad economic news with a statement that accused “the left” of manufacturing claims of a sour state economy, even though many on “the right” have similar concerns.

OK, fine, let’s throw out the state budget and instead look at a set of economic indicators. Specifically, look at some of the indicators that Gov. Sam Brownback himself said would bear out the state’s economic progress. 

In the early days of Brownback’s March to Zero income-tax strategy, he formed the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, which would publish periodic updates about the Kansas economy and establish a set of benchmarks.

The council’s latest Indicators of the Kansas Economy report was posted today by the Kansas Economic Progress Council, a nonprofit trade organization unrelated to Brownback or the Kansas Legislature.

It shows that Kansas lags its neighboring states and the national economy in several key metrics.

• Kansas’ gross state product increased 3.7 percent from 2012 to 2013, while six neighboring states increase theirs by 5 percent.

• Personal income increased in Kansas by 2.6 percent from 2012 to 2014, while neighboring states increase theirs by 2.8 percent over the same time period (the national personal-income rate grew by 3.4 percent).

• Building permits in Kansas decreased by 11.2 percent from 2013 to 2014, while the same metric in neighboring states increased by 26.6 percent.

• Nonfarm employment grew in Kansas by 0.9 percent from 2013 to 2014. Other states in the region increased nonfarm employment by 1.8 percent, while the national rate grew by 2.3 percent.

• Private-sector employment, a key benchmark of Brownback’s, increased by 1.1 percent from 2013 to 2014. Neighboring states outpaced Kansas with a 1.9 percent private-sector growth rate.

• The number of unemployed Kansans decreased by 11.2 percent from 2013 to 2014. But unemployed residents of regional states found work at a higher 18.5 percent clip.

Kansas did fare better in its private wage growth than its neighbors, but even that lagged behind the national average.

Brownback marketed his income-tax strategy as a “shot of adrenaline into the heart” for the sluggish Kansas economy.

This is what a shot of adrenaline to the heart looks like:

You can spot a better depiction of the Kansas economy here: