JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – This week, Governor Eric Greitens’ major focus was tax reform. The Republican Governor made several stops across the state on Monday and Tuesday to discuss his $800 million tax reform plan.
According to the Governor, his plan would result in tax cuts for 97 percent of Missouri taxpayers, utilizing cuts to personal income taxes and corporate income taxes, as well as implementing a “Workers First” tax cut. He also called for the elimination of “unnecessary tax breaks and closing loopholes.”
RELEASE: Gov. Greitens promotes tax relief for working families on state tour
But as various eyes began looking over the proposal, it became clear that not everyone saw things the same way. A report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says that an analysis of the plan by the Department of Revenue shows an estimated cut of $374.6 million, less than half of the $800 million the Greitens administration had been stating.
When asked about, Greitens’ spokesman Parker Briden said the numbers do not show all of the other factors involved in the equation.
On Thursday, the Governor did another Facebook Live video to answer questions about the tax cut proposals.
In a letter this week, the attorney general’s office said it would not require Greitens to turn over records related to his social media accounts — private messages, names of users who were blocked or emails used to create the accounts.
Those accounts, the attorney general’s office contends, are private and not subject to the Sunshine Law.
The Star also reported on Thursday that members of Greitens’ staff have apparently deleted the Confide app from their phones.
Earlier in the week, the New York Times published an article about companies selling fake social media followers. The Missouri Times did an audit of the social media accounts of statewide officials and legislative leaders, with the audit revealing that Greitens’ Twitter account has about 33 percent fake followers, according to TwitterAudit.
Twitter bots follow Greitens by the thousands, mostly avoid other lawmakers
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.
