By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Missouri lawmakers will be returning to Jefferson City this year to consider a tax cut proposal by Gov. Mike Parson.
Parson proposed a change in the state income tax structure after vetoing a measure approved by the legislature that would have given most Missouri residents $500 tax rebates.
Sen. Dan Hegeman of Cosby, the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, says he favored sending the checks to Missourians, but is open to the broader tax cut proposal.
“It’s always good to be able to give taxpayers some of their money back and this was one way we could do that,” Hegeman tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “I’m happy that we would be looking at that opportunity to continue to try to give taxpayers their money back, but the governor I think would like to kind of flatten the tax system a little bit more and also look for a more permanent way of decreasing taxes.”
Still, Hegeman says he favored writing Missouri residents a check.
“I actually sponsored the amendment on the Senate side,” Hegeman says. “I was fine with moving forward on that, but I can understand why the governor would rather have a more permanent tax cut and I’m fine with that as well.”
The General Assembly proposed giving a one-time tax credit of $500 to individuals and $1,000 to couples. The refunds would have gone to taxpayers earning less than $150,000 a year and couples with a combined income of under $300,000 annually. Parson vetoed the measure, saying it would leave out some Missourians. He advocates a cut in the state income tax.
“I think what we’re looking at and the governor has kind of implied this in some of the media that I’ve seen is flattening the system out, maybe reducing some of the tax brackets, and also making a more permanent tax cut that all citizens can enjoy,” Hegeman says.
Hegeman says Parson, a fellow Republican, hasn’t provided many details of his proposal. The governor has stated he wants to cut the percentage most Missourians pay in state income taxes, from 5.4% to around 4.7%. He plans to call lawmakers back to Jefferson City to consider the tax cut proposal.
No date for a special session has been set. The Legislature is scheduled to return in early September for the annual veto session. Special sessions traditionally run concurrent with the veto session.