Monday, September 26, 2022

Kansas City Democrat: Tax cut follies roll on


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

I must admit I was tempted to open with a scene from The Godfather because much of what we have seen so far in this very special veto session has been presented in the form of an offer you can’t refuse. 

Extend tax credits for farmers – including urban farms, and tax cuts for everyone! Yippee! 

Dig a little deeper though and you will find out the credits for the urban farms are structured in a way that most urban farm operations cannot utilize them as Rep Proudie (St. Louis County) explained during the final debate on the bill in the House. 








Furthermore, as a way of silencing opposition during the initial debate, the Republican Leadership team on this bill hand-picked a few Democrat representatives to speak in support of the bill, and then shut down the debate by a procedural motion of the Floor Leader. 

This was an intentional move to silence any discussion about foreign-owned farms that were referenced in amendments that had been filed. 

Even though the amendment sponsors were standing at the mic requesting acknowledgment, they were completely blocked out. There was no opportunity to offer any remedies or improvements for discussion or a vote.

Democrats were angry. You might as well have put duct tape over our mouths. It takes 82 votes to pass legislation in the Missouri House of Representatives. At the final count, HB 3, a bill that passed out of the 2022 regular session with broad support and was vetoed by the Governor, passed with 83 votes. 

Had the Governor not vetoed the original bill this past session, it would have gone into effect on August 28. Once this business was settled, Veto Session was adjourned sine die (a fancy Latin term for final) and we went home.

To be clear, there were other opportunities to improve this bill and advance additional agricultural policy during this session, but the arrogance of our Republican Leadership and their condescending knowledge of what’s best for us prevailed and is growing wearisome.

Onward Ho!

As we remain 50th in the nation for teacher pay, hospitals are closing, and many of our State Departments are facing unprecedented staff shortages – including the Departments of Mental Health and the Missouri Children’s Division – and while our businesses (large and small) are seeking solutions to workforce shortages that are related to childcare, housing, and transportation, it seems to the Republican Leaders that the solution is to cut taxes.








· This bill will blow a $2 BILLION hole in our budget over the next five fiscal years.

· The people who need the cuts won’t receive much benefit – about $18 a month – while the top 1 percent of earners will recover $564 a month

· The governor’s rationale for these tax cuts at this point in time does not make sense. I said it before, and I’ll say it again… The governor says that these tax cuts will help Missourians deal with inflation by giving money back to Missourians… but Republicans are also saying the reason we’re experiencing inflation is because the government is giving too much money back to Missourians.

Yes, you heard right. Wednesday, 9/28, I will head back to Jefferson City for a House Budget Committee hearing on four different tax cut bills.

So, there you have it. I wish I could say that we were simply wasting time, but the truth is, if we don’t change the stakes if we don’t get more balance in the Missouri government by increasing the majority/minority ratio, this will be our reality for a very long time. Please get engaged. Volunteer to be an election official with your local election board. Work for someone’s campaign. Join an organization like the NAACP or the League of Women Voters. Get involved! It doesn’t matter where you start. Our Democracy is depending on you!

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