JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – With members of the legislature being called back into a special session, it stood to reason that the attendance in Governor Eric Greitens’ Committee for Simple, Fair and Low Taxes would drop from an already lowered attendance rate.
But Tuesday’s hearing, which was moved from the usual Monday afternoon time, saw just two members attending the hearing, and only one of those in person.
Most noticeably absent was Chairman Joel Walters, whom Vice Chairman Will Scharf said was unable to make it due to Cabinet duties. Scharf, the only member seated in attendance in the meeting at the Governor’s Office Building, presided over Tuesday’s hearing, with former Sen. Jason Crowell standing by on the phone.
With no quorum established, the committee was unable to do anything involving a vote, including the approval of the minutes from the previous week, and moved straight to presentations.
Tuesday featured a presentation by Dylan Grundman, a senior policy analyst from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and Jeanette Mott-Oxford from Empower Missouri.
Oxford spoke to the committee, saying the state’s current tax code is hurting Missourians. She said by modernizing the state’s tax code, it could be of a maximum benefit to workers living in poverty and their children.
“Families with low income need to be a priority for us in Missouri,” Oxford said.
One of the ways she mentioned this could be done is by broadening the tax brackets for income tax rates and adding a new top rate, as well as removing the deductions for federal income taxes.
She also spoke about revenue neutrality as a tax reform goal, saying she and Empower Missouri are worried about that. A new audit released last week reportedly shows that Missouri is $4.1 billion under the Hancock revenue cap. She says that the cap was meant to show when Missouri had gone too far and was overtaxing citizens.
As for corporate taxes, Oxford said that they believe that corporations ought to contribute an equitable amount “for the common good.”
Grundman followed her presentation, providing an analysis of tax policy principles and how the Show-Me State compares.
The principles he highlighted were adequacy, fairness, stability/sustainability, simplicity/transparency, neutrality, and competitiveness.
Grundman said most state tax codes are “upside down” and “narrow”, and that Missouri is around the middle of the pack when it comes to regressive tax systems. He recommended avoiding a shift from income taxes to sales taxes, as well making cuts to income taxes.
The committee has now completed two of their four town halls, with Scharf calling the previous one, held Monday night in Hannibal, “very productive”, and saying that the members had not arrived back in town until after midnight.
The committee’s next town hall event is scheduled for Friday, June 2 in Cape Girardeau, before the final town hall in Springfield on Wednesday, June 7.
Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
