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Greitens rounds out 10-member tax credit committee

New Department of Revenue head named chair

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Gov. Eric Greitens first announced his Governor’s Committee on Simple, Fair and Low Taxes nearly a month ago, and Friday he named the final four people who will round out the board looking at ways to cut the state’s tax credit programs and reform how the state’s tax scheme compares nationally.

Recently named Director of the Department of Revenue Joel Walters will chair the committee while former State Sens. Jason Crowell and John Lamping and Greitens’ Policy Director Will Scharf will also serve on the committee.

“I’m honored to be able to chair this committee and work with the governor to design a tax system that helps grow jobs and our state’s economy,” Walters said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the other members of the committee to design a simple, fair, and low tax system.”

Crowell was a major anti-tax advocate during his time in the Senate from 2005 to 2013, and Lamping now works as a financial advisor in St. Louis who also looked to roll back tax credits when he served in the upper chamber.

While Greitens may have taken his time selecting the four men to join the committee, House and Senate leadership have already had their delegates chosen for weeks. Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard selected Sens. Will Kraus, Andrew Koenig and Dan Hegeman to the committee just days after Greitens announced the formation of the committee. House Speaker Todd Richardson took just over a week to pick Reps. Elijah Haahr, Holly Rehder and Jay Barnes to serve on the committee.

The aim of the committee is to assess the state’s tax scheme and overhaul state’s tax credit system, ideally to allow for tax rate cuts. The makeup of the committee indicates a highly conservative outlook to determine how the state taxes its citizens and provides tax credits in the future. The formation of the committee comes at a time when Democrats have consistently blamed a lack of corporate revenue for the state’s current budget crunch.

The committee will report their findings by June 30.