It's not quite as catchy as the "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" slogan, but it's close: The Kansas equivalent might be "what happens to Kansas business stays in Kansas business."

Huh?

Well, this was the year the Legislature decided to look through corporate income tax rules and see if there was a way to turn up a little extra cash for the state. The state is in tough budget times that look to get worse in the next year, and revenue from business -- well, it can be raised, but lawmakers know they have to be careful how they do it.

This year? The governor is looking over a bill that raises corporate income taxes on mostly out-of-state firms by about $20 million by creating a new test for business transactions. Selling a factory in, say, Arizona, and telling Kansas "that's not relevant to our business in Kansas" used to work for multistate corporations. Now, if that same out-of-state firm sold a factory in Kansas, sure, the state would tax the proceeds of the sale. But out-of-state, no deal ... until this year, when Kansas changed a law to change its view of those transactions.

Lawmakers also changed the rules businesses used to their advantage by parking their money overnight in short-term investments, costing the state about $2.5 million a year in lost business income tax.

Now, there's some money on the table -- about $22.5 million a year -- and in tight economic times you might figure that the state would use that additional revenue for schools or health care or highway projects or virtually anything that the state does that costs money.

This is where the "what happens in ..." kicks in.

The money that was taken from businesses through higher taxes? It is staying in business through lower taxes. Centerpiece is a reduction of the state's top corporate tax rate from 7.35 percent to 7.10 percent this year, 7.05 percent next year and the following year, and thereafter an even 7 percent. That's if the governor signs the bill into law.

How'd the business community like this year's corporate income tax plan? Just fine, thank you. Business, of course, would have preferred that none of its friends see taxes increase. But if lawmakers were determined to raise money from corporations, at least it was mostly from out-of-state corporations. And if the Legislature was going to spend that money it raised from out-of-state corporations, there's no better place to spend it than in cutting tax rates for in-state corporations.

Racy Las Vegas likes it that people believe what happens there stays there. But Kansas business, while not very racy, likes it just as well that what happens to businesses in Kansas stays with businesses in Kansas.

Syndicated by Hawver News Co. of Topeka, Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver's Capitol Report. To learn more about this statewide political news service, visit the Web site at www.hawvernews.com.