As a representative of southwest Missouri, I live the same life as the people I serve. I drive the same county roads, shop on the same Main Streets, attend the same school events, coach our community youth sports teams, and show up at the same church suppers as my neighbors. I depend on the same farms and small businesses that hold our communities together. Out here, we do not ask for handouts. We ask for the freedom to work hard, make a living, and keep what we earn. That is why I support Governor Mike Kehoe’s plan to responsibly eliminate Missouri’s personal income tax.
In southwest Missouri, farms and small businesses are the backbone of our communities. Farming, in particular, is a family legacy. Every year brings uncertainty: weather that refuses to cooperate, fuel and fertilizer prices that spike overnight, equipment that breaks at the worst possible time, and markets no one in rural Missouri controls. When the state takes income taxes, it is not taking extra money. It is taking dollars that would otherwise go toward seed, repairs, land payments, or setting something aside for the next bad year. Ending the income tax gives farmers breathing room and a little more certainty in an unpredictable business.
The same principle applies to our small businesses. Southwest Missouri is built on family owned shops, feed stores, contractors, mechanics, and service companies. These are not corporations with tax attorneys and lobbyists on retainer. They are neighbors who sponsor the ball team, donate to the fire department, and keep the lights on downtown. When income taxes are reduced or eliminated, those dollars stay local. They turn into new hires, higher wages, upgraded equipment, and reinvestment in the community.
For too long, the tax system has favored the urban corporate elite while rural Missourians shoulder the burden. Large companies with political clout often secure special carve outs and loopholes, while the people doing the real work in small towns pay full freight. That imbalance is wrong. We should not punish hard work in Ava, Gainesville, Forsyth, or anywhere in this great state while powerful interests in boardrooms find ways to avoid paying their share.
Responsible income tax elimination means being honest about priorities. It requires a nuanced focus on cutting wasteful government spending and demanding accountability. It also means ensuring that large corporations contribute fairly, rather than shifting the load onto families and small businesses that can least afford it. That is a common sense, conservative approach rooted in fairness.
This reform is also about the future of rural Missouri and the direction of our state’s economy. Governor Kehoe has challenged us to turn the Show Me State into the Grow Me State, a Missouri achieving exceptional growth. That vision only works if growth reaches places like southwest Missouri, not just corporate headquarters and urban corridors. Strong farms and thriving local businesses give young people a reason to stay, invest, and build their lives at home rather than leaving for opportunity elsewhere.
Some of the loudest critics of this idea come from urban centers and corporate boardrooms. They view policy through spreadsheets and projections. Rural Missourians see life through seasons, neighbors, and responsibility. I will always stand with the people who plant the crops, open the shops, and show up when their community needs them, because those are the people I answer to.
Governor Kehoe’s tax reform proposal offers rural Missouri a real opportunity to thrive. By ending the personal income tax responsibly, we can strengthen our farms, support our small businesses, and keep our communities strong. In doing so, we move Missouri toward exceptional growth and make it the Grow Me State a reality in every corner of our state. That is the kind of future southwest Missouri deserves, and it is why I support this reform.
Matthew Overcast (R) is the state representative for Missouri House District 155.
