TOPEKA, Kan.  - Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback hasn't dropped the idea of canceling a promised decrease in the state's sales tax as a budget-balancing option next year.
     But the proposal faces bipartisan legislative resistance.
     Brownback called on legislators this week to reconsider unsuccessful proposals he offered previously to offset massive income tax cuts he wanted as an economic stimulus. His ideas included keeping the sales tax at its current rate of 6.3 percent.
     The sales tax is scheduled to drop to 5.7 percent in July 2013.
     The state boosted the sales tax in 2010 to protect public schools and social services, and lawmakers pledged that most of the increase would be temporary. The increase occurred before Brownback took office.
     Brownback and legislators now face closing a projected $328 million budget shortfall.