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Missourians rally in favor of striking state income tax

Rep. Bishop Davidson, R-Republic, stands inside the Capitol wearing a blue blazer and a red tie.
Channing Headlee
/
KOMU8
Rep. Bishop Davidson, R-Republic, said he hopes his bill to remove Missouri's income tax will benefit Missourians in more ways than one.

A group that supports removing the state income tax rallied at the Capitol Tuesday, urging lawmakers to approve a bill that follows an idea Gov. Mike Kehoe campaigned on.

Dozens of volunteers with Americans for Prosperity rallied in favor of House Bill 100, which is currently in committee and, if passed, would impose a flat rate of 4% personal income tax on all Missouri residents next year.

The bill would also create a tax reform fund to begin reducing that tax the following year.

Rep. Bishop Davidson, R-Republic, wrote the bill and said he hopes it will benefit Missourians in more ways than one.

"Income taxes aren't just a tax on your income and not just a tax on your productivity," said Davidson, who represents part of Greene County. "It's also a tax on your time, a tax on your resources, it's a tax on your priorities for your own family and your aspirations for your own home."

Grace Hosmanek was one volunteer attending the rally, and she said she recently moved to Missouri. She said she agrees the proposed strike of income tax will affect her family.

"Someday I would like to homeschool my own children, so if I was just living off of my husband's salary and what he brings into the household, if that income is not taxed that is obviously more sustainable for me to educate my children in the way that I see fit," Hosmanek said.

However, one state representative strongly opposes the bill.

"There are better ways to get tax-saving than this," said Rep. David Tyson Smith, D-Columbia. "This is irresponsible, and it's reckless."

Smith represents the city of Columbia and part of Boone County, and he said he has a more reasonable way to save Missourians money.

"I'm going to be proposing a sales tax cut on groceries," Smith said. "I think that's more manageable. In a time where people are hurting financially and having trouble buying food, that's a tax cut that I think Missourians can absorb."

Smith argues that Missouri cannot afford a cut to funding as large as the strike of income taxes. However, Davidson argues that the rearrangement of taxes would make this a possibility.

"There are taxes which I think are more tolerable than other taxes," Davidson said. "The income tax is at the bottom of that list, and something like a sales tax is at the top of that list."

Smith argued that striking the state income tax could hurt infrastructure.

"If you have no income tax, what happens when your schools start to fall apart, when your roads can't get fixed and when you can't get access to the healthcare you need?" Smith said. "Nobody wants to pay taxes; the problem is if you don't have those tax dollars, your infrastructure starts to crumble."

Find out more about Missouri's current income tax here!

KOMU 8 is a full-powered NBC affiliate operating as an independent commercial property. As such, KOMU 8 is the only major network affiliate in the United States that acts as a university-owned commercial television station utilizing its newsroom as a working lab for students.
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