The Missouri Senate granted preliminary approval yesterday to a bill that would decrease the state income tax by 0.75 percent. The bill, proposed by Republican Sen. Will Kraus, would bring the state’s income tax closer in line with neighboring Kansas.
But Democratic Senator Jolie Justus says now is not the time.
“I think that we have not even begun to fully fund our education formula in the state of Missouri … and we are woefully underfunding higher education in the state of Missouri," she says. "Until we meet those minimum requirements, I don’t think we need to be talking about cutting an additional billion dollars’ worth of revenue from our state budget.”
The bill would increase the state’s sales tax to make up for the loss of income tax revenue. Justus says she’ll vote no when the bill goes up for a final vote.
