“I am disappointed in the governor’s statement today on Senate Bills 509 and 496,” said President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey. “I believe the governor’s concerns are not justified,” Dempsey continued.  “Unfortunately, the governor would rather spend his time searching for technical issues than to constructively engage lawmakers on how to provide tax relief to thousands of Missourians. As usual, he hides his opposition to Missourians keeping more of their take-home pay behind ‘fig leaves’of his own making.”

“The Legislature believes citizens are more equipped to spend their money rather than the government,” said Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones, R-St. Louis County. “Low taxes will spur the economy; we are not done with this issue and plan to revisit it yet this session. I invite the governor to put away his veto pen and join us in this effort that will benefit hard-working Missourians.”

Former Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court, William Price, also shares these views. “I believe based on the plain language of the full Senate Bill 509, Missouri courts would find that, after full implementation of the reduction, the 5.5 percent tax rate would apply to all income over $8,000,” stated Price.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit, added, “This is a people’s tax cut. Each cut applies to individual tax returns, and the cuts impact all Missourians who pay taxes. The tax cuts will not begin until 2017 and will only take effect each year if the state’s revenues are growing more than $150 million over the highest of the last three years. This is a reasonable tax cut with a lot of built-in protection for Missouri’s budget. We won't give up easily on enacting the first broad-based tax cut in 100 years.”