News-Leader: HB 253 is a mistake

It is not the first time the Springfield News-Leader has editorialized against HB 253, but the newspaper once again spoke out against the tax measure, which was vetoed by Gov. Jay Nixon and is expected to be the target of an override attempt when the legislature's veto session begins later this month:

Fiscal analysis of the bill has estimated a cost of up to $800 million on the state’s general revenue fund once fully implemented. Nixon has already withheld funds for public education and higher education in anticipation of these losses.

If the money doesn’t start rolling in from businesses so thrilled with the low tax rates that they move to Missouri and add millions to the economy, there is little that can be done short of putting a whopping tax increase on the general ballot. In the meantime, our schools will have to do with less — $4.3 million less in the case of Springfield Public Schools.

Yet, all economic development research indicates that businesses are not enticed so much by low taxes as by good public schools, a well-educated and trained workforce, a well-maintained infrastructure and a generally positive social environment.

HB 253 does none of that either.

We need a well-reasoned economic policy in Missouri, one that treats all of its citizens fairly, from the minimum-wage worker to the corporate CEO. We need a policy that encourages a good working environment by providing a good social environment.

HB 253 doesn’t do any of that.