The second half of the 2014 legislative session officially began this week, with lawmakers returning to Jefferson City following our annual spring recess. There’s less than two months left before we adjourn for the year, with numerous priorities still up in the air or winding their way through the legislative process. We’ll work diligently in the next seven weeks to pass measures to truly benefit our state.

This week, we took a huge step in encouraging economic development in all regions of our state by approving a broad-based tax relief measure. Senate Bill 509 contains a handful of proposals aimed at relieving the tax burden on hard-working Missourians and encouraging business growth throughout the state.

The bill creates a 25 percent deduction for business income reported on individual income tax returns. The tax relief is aimed squarely at small businesses, a majority of which are S-Corporations of Limited Liability Companies. These business setups require owners to claim business income on their personal returns. The money those employers save through this reduction can be directly reinvested in creating new jobs and growing their businesses.

The legislation also cuts the state’s individual tax rate from 6 percent to 5.5 percent over a period of five years, and adds a $500 tax deduction for low-income taxpayers who make less than $20,000.

However, to ensure the tax reductions don’t affect our ability to fund critical areas of government, particularly education, the cuts will not take effect until 2017, and only if state revenue grows by $150 million. The delay is intended to give the legislature time to work toward fully funding the K-12 education formula, a long-standing goal of myself and many other legislators.

We also approved two bills this week involving the use of firearms in Missouri. Currently, those applying for a concealed carry weapon (CCW) permit must demonstrate their ability to safely load and fire both a revolver and a semiautomatic pistol. The problem is that a lot of people don’t own both types of firearms.

Senate Bill 656 would allow applicants to only demonstrate their ability to safely load and fire either a revolver or a semiautomatic pistol. The change will hopefully encourage more law-abiding Missourians to obtain a conceal carry permit. We also approved Senate Bill 745, which is a technical bill that cleans up some of the statutes regarding law enforcement officers, weapons, and conceal carry permits.

In other news, I was happy to welcome a number of visitors to the Capitol this week, including Jamie Kanan and Linda East with Missouri Healthcare for All; David Courtway, Jefferson County Director of Administration; Ken Waller, Jefferson County Executive; numerous local union members; and Jim Hamblin, in Jefferson City for Missouri Grocers Day.

I also met with Tim Borgmeyer and Jeffrey C. McKnight with Buzzi Unicem USA. Like myself, they are concerned about the current state of Missouri’s infrastructure. As has been widely reported, our highways and bridges are in desperate need of repair. I hope my colleagues in the Senate continue to consider the 1 percent sales tax option of funding our highways. Of all our choices, I think it’s the best for rebuilding our state’s fast-crumbling infrastructure.

I was honored to speak at the Leading Age Missouri conference held in Jefferson City.  Leading Age Missouri is an association dedicated to serving the needs of providers of healthcare, housing and services for the elderly.

On Thursday morning, I was happy to join Mike Ramsey in the Capitol Rotunda for his live radio show on local station KFMO. I will be attending the Ste. Genevieve Center for Life Banquet tonight and hope to see some of you there. This local pregnancy center provides valuable services to citizens in our area. I’m proud to support it, and hopeful legislation I filed this year to increase funding for these incredibly important organizations is approved.

Sen. Romine’s Sponsored Legislation for 2014

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