A hotly debated override to Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a bill designed to reduce income taxes during the next decade failed to gain traction with Missouri lawmakers yesterday.
During the veto override session, the Missouri House of Representatives needed all 109 Republican members to vote to override House Bill 253, but the measure failed 94-67, according to the Missouri Press Association.
Supporters of the veto override included the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to launch a statewide media campaign.
In the July Springfield Business Journal story, "
Tax-cut bill rhetoric ramps up," Missouri chamber President Dan Mehan said the measure was considerate of businesses and government entities.
In a news release issued yesterday, Mehan said the chamber would not concede its efforts to advocate for tax-cut legislation.
"We invested significant time, energy and political capital because we believed it was the right thing to do. Our drive doesn’t end with today’s vote," Mehan said in the release. "If anything, we are even more committed to securing tax relief for Missouri’s workers and job creators to keep our state more competitive.
"We are looking forward to returning with our tax reform plan during the upcoming session."
Key features of HB 253 included incremental reductions during a 10-year period and only in years following a tax revenue increase of at least $100 million. The act would have cut in half the corporate income tax rate during the next decade to 3.25 percent from 6.25 percent, and dropped the individual income tax rate to 5.5 percent from 6 percent between 2014 and 2018.
The tax-cut bill also would have required Missouri to join with other states to help collect sales taxes from online transactions and would have allowed delinquent individual taxpayers to avoid penalties if they paid their full bill between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31.
In his June 5 veto letter, Nixon called HB 253 "an ill-conceived, fiscally irresponsible experiment," and,
in July, he restricted $400 million from the state's fiscal 2014 budget, citing opposition to his veto of the bill. Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, in a news release yesterday called for the immediate release of the $400 million in withheld funds. Nixon this morning issued a release indicating he would immediately release $215.2 million in funding for education, mental health and other fiscal priorities. The remaining withheld funding represents two-year budget items for capital improvement projects, the release said.
Nixon, who garnered the support of organizations including the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Springfield Public Schools, yesterday applauded the House's vote to sustain his veto, echoing past statements that the bill would have defunded schools and weakened the state's economy.
"(Yesterday's) vote represents a defining moment for our state and a victory for all Missourians," Nixon said in a news release.[[In-content Ad]]
