TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican Governor Sam Brownback argues that Kansas legislators shouldn’t tinker further with tax laws next year.  He says the state budget is in good shape despite a projected shortfall because his economic policies are working.

The governor spent much of a recent AP interview throwing out statistics aimed at bolstering his argument tax cuts he championed in past years are boosting the economy.

The state has struggled to balance its $15 billion budget since those reductions; it hiked sales and cigarette taxes earlier this year and still faces a projected deficit of about $160 million for the fiscal year that begins in July.

Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka says the state’s budget problems show that Brownback’s policies have failed.