Burnett: Governor called $60,000 special session to give sales tax break to one Missouri couple

(From Rep. Ingrid Burnett, D-Kansas City)

The House of Representatives on Sept. 11, voted 126-21 to approve legislation allowing businesses and individuals to sell or trade-in multiple vehicles to reduce the amount of sales tax owed on the purchase of another vehicle. On Friday, Sept. 13, the Senate unanimously approved the same bill by a vote of 29 - 0 with no discussion.

HB1 was sponsored by Representative Becky Ruth (R) after a Missouri couple sought to claim credit for selling four vehicles, which would have eliminated the sales tax owed on a new truck they had purchased, and they were denied by the Department of Revenue.

Current law allows the value of only one vehicle to be credited toward sales tax owed on the purchase of a vehicle, and Gov. Mike Parson’s administration defended the law all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court, which ruled in the administration’s favor and said the law is unambiguous that credit can be given for just one vehicle. 

Despite winning the case, Parson, a Republican, inexplicably called a special legislative session for the sole purpose of asking the General Assembly to overturn his administration’s legal victory.

Since special sessions typically are reserved for issues that demand immediate action and can’t wait until the next regular legislative session in January, Parson has been widely criticized for calling a special session on this topic instead of something more pressing such as gun violence. 

A question that Representative Keri Ingle (D) asked during the House debate to the sponsor was, if this is so urgent that it needed its own special legislative session, then why was there no emergency clause requested? 

The answer we got was that there was no need for an emergency clause because if the sale of the vehicles used to offset the price of the new vehicle occurs within 180 days prior to or 180 days after the purchase, it is eligible. 

This bill will go into effect before the 180 days expires, and the couple will get their sales tax refunded to them. At a cost of over $60k to taxpayers, a special session to refund the sales tax to one Missouri couple seems excessive and reckless, does it not?

The special session will end with a procedural session on Sept. 16, and the bill will take effect on Dec. 15, about three weeks before the 2020 regular legislative session begins.

Swift veto session ends with no overrides

As expected, the Republican-controlled General Assembly didn’t override any of the six bills GOP Gov. Mike Parson vetoed from the 2019 regular session when the legislature convened for its annual veto session on Sept. 11. The swift session was over in less than 45 minutes.

While the Senate didn’t attempt any overrides, the House took a vote on a wide-ranging bill containing various provisions related to health care. The override effort failed on a vote of 37-105-1. A successful override requires 109 House votes.

The remaining five bills Parson vetoed included another health care measure, an omnibus transportation bill, legislation relating to mining royalties and a pair of bills that sought to legalize Viking-style outdoor cremations. 

I am deeply disappointed that the Senate took no action to override the veto of SB282 which contained a provision to restore benefits to state employees who are widows of active military killed in action. It is an issue I will continue to advocate on, and will keep you updated as I do.