The Kansas Senate took a second run at a flat income tax passing a nearly $1.8 billion package weeks after the Kansas House failed to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a similar plan.

The Senate voted 29 to 11 late Thursday to approve the plan after seven hours of debate on various tax proposals. The Senate appeared to have a veto-proof majority on the bill with the support Sen. David Haley of Kansas City, who told The Star after the vote he intended to vote against the bill but remains undecided.

“I wanted to see what else is going to go through the process,” Haley said. “I wanted to take a wait and see as this bill continues through the process.”

The bill now heads to the House where it is certain to be significantly altered.

The plan centers around a 5.7% flat income tax that would reduce by half a percent each year until 2029. It also drastically increases the personal income tax exemption from $2,250 for individuals to $11,000 and increases the existing exemption on state property tax. In total, the plan would cost $1.5 billion over three years.

Senate Republicans framed the bill as a response to Kelly’s criticism that an earlier plan, which she vetoed, would disproportionately benefit the rich.

“No one can say that we are helping the rich in this legislation, this is helping the low and medium income families and hardworking Kansans,” Sen. Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican, said citing the higher income tax rate and expansive exemption.

But the package senators passed out Thursday is far from the final product. House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said he is working on a separate tax bill that will include a flat tax.

Hawkins said he has not engaged with Kelly on a new plan even after she successfully vetoed their first plan last month and is all but certain to veto the latest proposal.

Kelly has said she would reject any tax plan that includes a flat income tax. In a statement, Thursday, her office reiterated that position, urging lawmakers to support a plan she rolled out earlier this year with the support of three Republican senators, Rob Olson of Olathe, John Doll of Garden City and Dennis Pyle of Hiawatha. Pyle and Doll voted in favor of Thursday’s bill.

“The legislature should take irresponsible flat tax proposals off the table once and for all, and instead focus on meaningful, sustainable tax reform that will not threaten Kansas’ solid fiscal foundation,” Kelly spokesperson Grace Hoge said in a statement. “Kansans have seen reckless tax experiments that hurt our schools, roads, and economy before, and they don’t want to go back.”

In addition to the main package including the flat tax the Kansas Senate passed several other tax bills Thursday including sales tax exemptions for feminine hygiene products and a tax credit and sales tax exemption for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers and maternity centers.

Despite Kelly’s ardent opposition Kansas Republicans have focused intensely on approving a flat income tax this year – a policy pushed by Kansas business groups who argue a flat tax will allow for lower tax rates and bring more people to the state.

Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, said he believed Kelly would accept no significant cuts to income tax.

“We’re trying to find, and that’s why we’re casting these votes, what 27 senators will accept because we will not see that from the governor,” Masterson said, citing the number of votes needed to override a veto.

But Sen. Tim Shallenburger, a Baxter Springs Republican who voted for the bill, questioned the strategy of pushing a flat tax when Kelly wouldn’t sign the bill.

“I hope at some point in time we can get some kind of compromise,” he said.

Last month, the House fell three votes short of a veto-proof majority. In order to pass a flat tax over Kelly’s veto, the House would need to flip those votes back and the Senate could only afford to lose two votes.

Democrats argue the proposal unjustly sends the majority of tax relief to Kansas’ wealthiest residents while the middle class is left behind. They warn the proposal will wreck the state budget – pointing to budget shortfalls that followed tax cuts under former Gov. Sam Brownback.

Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, said the annual reductions in income tax would only exacerbate inequities and stress on the state budget.

“If we want to provide real tax relief that we’re not going to have a tax increase in three years then we need to look at something that is sustainable,” she said.

Masterson said the tax structure change was the most important thing to him, arguing such a change is the fairest way to tax and would bring more people and businesses to the state.

“It’s not this progressive structure that penalizes you the better you do. It’s fair,” he said. “The structure is what’s so important you can’t continue to buy economic development.