SB 509: the folks back home ain’t buying what they’re selling

Tags

54th Legislative District, Denny Hoskins, governor, Jay Nixon, missouri, SB 509, taxes, Warrensburg

Speaker Pro Tem Denny Hoskins (r) sent out his weekly legislative session report today:

Denny Hoskins, CPA

Speaker Pro Tem

Missouri House of Representatives

District 54

[….]

Capitol Report

April 24, 2014

….Governor Nixon has consistently tried to scare Missourians away from reducing the tax burden and chose to cherry picked a phrase in this bill and twisted it to fit his deceptive messaging. The Governor contends SB 509 will eliminate the top tax bracket, but his opinion has been dismissed by former Missouri Supreme Court Justice Ray Price and the Missouri Society of CPAs who agree the bill will require the tax tables to be redrawn and not eliminate the entire tax bracket as the Governor says….

[emphasis in original]

Who’s doing the dismissing?:

Nixon says Republican tax cut bill would cost Missouri billions

April 22, 2014 11:30 pm • By Virginia Young

….[House Majority Floor Leader] Diehl [r] cited a legal opinion by former Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice William Price, who was asked to review the bill by Dempsey. Price concluded that Missouri courts would find that the 5.5 percent tax rate would apply to all incomes over $8,000 even after the reduction is fully implemented. Price is Diehl’s law partner at Armstrong Teasdale, a St. Louis law firm….

[emphasis added](hat tip to Bob Yates)

Fancy that.

The lead editorial in today’s Warrensburg Daily Star Journal takes issue with SB 509:

Mo. tax cut bill ill-considered; veto necessary

….What lawmakers meant to pass is, understandably, a source of concern. But what [Governor] Nixon said they actually passed is an unmitigated catastrophe….

….The trouble is, what lawmakers wrote is not abundantly clear. What they wrote is questionable legally, and therefore dangerous fiscally.

When the fate of the state is at stake, lawmakers should be scrupulous in what they write, and in how carefully they read. They should allow debate that answers questions, something the House did not allow. No matter the intent or ultimate legal decision regarding, Senate Bill 509 looks like sloppy lawmaking and that is not a good for Missouri….

….Anyone who would vote to override a veto of HB 509 risks plunging Missouri into a financial abyss from which there may be no way out.

The home town newspaper isn’t buying what Representative Hoskins (r) is selling. Fancy that.

Previously:

New Missouri Rule: if the governor governs right of center you can’t call him a “liberal” (July 1, 2013)

Bill signing Kabuki (July 12, 2013)

Rep. Chris Kelly (D): HB 253 – “I’d like to know what your opinion is.” (July 19, 2013)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r): probably not gonna sustain the Governor’s veto of HB 253 (August 19, 2013)

Sec. of State Jason Kander (D) to Texas Gov. Rick Perry (r): You forgot about that Medicaid thing? (August 23, 2013)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) to UCM on HB 253: I don’t care, I’d rather be the new Speaker Pro Tem (August 24, 2013)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r): your constituents know what you’re doing to them (August 26, 2013)

HB 253: Because those dissolute leeches at the public trough should shut up, that’s why! (August 28, 2013)

Missouri Democratic Party on HB 253: Yes, yes, let’s talk about Texas Gov. Rick Perry (r)…. (August 28, 2013)

AG Chris Koster (D) to Speaker Jones (r) on HB 253: you all certainly made a mess of things… (August 29, 2013)