Friday, June 04, 2010

Sinquefield pours $2.5 million into battle to renew earnings tax for Kansas City, St. Louis

If anyone doubted how serious retired billionaire Rex Sinquefield is about having earnings taxes in St. Louis and Kansas City repealed, it is safe to say that doubt has been erased.


Missouri Ethics Commission records show Sinquefield contributed $2,534,000 Thursday to Let Voters Decide, the front group he created to push the repeal of the earnings taxes. With that contribution, Sinquefield has now spent $4,284,000 on the issue.


The background for the initiative was provided in the Feb. 10 Turner Report, which noted that the group is fronted by the people who have been doing Sinquefield's business with the state legislature for the past few years:



Missouri Ethics Commission documents show Let Voters Decide lists Stephanie Bell as treasurer. Ms. Bell is a lawyer with the firm of Blitz, Bardgett, and John Deustch. At one time, she was an assistant to former Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, now a lobbyist.

The deputy treasurer for Let Voters Decide is Mandy Studer, grass roots director for Americans for Prosperity and chief of staff at Pelopidas, the organization formed by Sinquefield lobbyist Travis Brown.

On the incorporation documents filed Jan. 13 with the Missouri secretary of state's office Jan. 13, Brown is listed as an incorporator.

The registered agent for Let Voters Decide is Marc H Ellinger, Cole County presiding commissioner and a partner with Blitz, Bardgett an Deutsch.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I still don't get why every article I've seen about earnings taxes in Missouri is about how Rex or someone else wants them repealed.

The whole point of the Let Voters Decide group from what I've heard is that they are pushing for there to be a vote in November to decide whether to vote on the earnings taxes in 2011.

That's pretty good if someone is willing to fork out money just to give people the opportunity to vote on their taxes.