Originally posted at ProgressMissouri.org
Senate Appropriations Chair Kurt Schaefer and Representative Chris Kelly this morning told Rex Sinquefield directly that they oppose his radical Everything Tax ballot initiatives. The two members of the General Assembly were the headline speakers at a Show-Me Institute event in Columbia moderated by Sinquefield himself.
“It scares the bejesus out of me what's going to happen if we phase into this and we have a substantial dip in general revenue,” said Senator Schaefer, who also said he was “intrigued” by the concept of a higher sales tax, in general. But “I'm very concerned about what happens when it phases in, especially during the phase in, and whether or not we have a substantial dip in general revenue because we cannot take it right now.”
The Everything Tax “cannot pass and...is bad for the state of Missouri,” said Representative Kelly. “It's bad for the state of Missouri because it would produce less revenue and because it moves the burden so substantially downward.”
Billionaire Rex Sinquefield’s Everything Tax would force Missourians pay more for almost everything we buy every day, and would hit seniors and working families especially hard. Morever, Sinquefield’s pipe dream would make an already bad budget situation in the Show Me State worse. When fully implemented in 2016, the Everything Tax will create a shortfall of $3.2 billion -- and that’s on top of the state’s current budget challenges.
An extended transcript of Representative Kelly’s remarks is as follows:
KELLY: The [Everything] tax proposal that my friend [Rex Sinquefield] is supporting, I think, is A cannot pass and B is bad for the state of Missouri. It's bad for the state of Missouri because it would produce less revenue and because it moves the burden so substantially downward.
It will not pass because there is enough people in the middle. I think, things, radical things don't happen. If we're going to move toward sales tax we have to do so gradually and we have to do so in a responsible way. Conservatives very often like the sales tax not because they like the philosophy, but because they think it will mean less revenue.
An extended transcript of Senator Schaefer’s remarks is as follows:
My biggest concern with the [Everything Tax ballot] proposal is...we're a billion dollars down in general revenue, this year alone it's a five hundred million dollar shortfall from the previous year, and it scares the bejesus out of me what's going to happen if we phase into this and we have a substantial dip in general revenue...
On the consumption tax, again, I think it's a very intriguing idea, I'm very concerned about what happens when it phases in, especially during the phase in, and whether or not we have a substantial dip in general revenue because we cannot take it right now.
Progress Missouri is part of the broad coalition of organizations from across the state and across the political spectrum fighting back against Sinquefield’s radical vision for Missouri. A full list of coalition members may be found at MissouriFuture.org.
