Legislative News
On Wednesday my colleagues and I gathered in the House chamber for Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Breckenridge’s first State of the Judiciary speech. Much of this year’s speech was focused on Missouri’s municipal court system—its history, shortcomings, the positive changes that have already taken place and where it is headed. It was a great opportunity for state lawmakers to hear how 2015’s Senate Bill 5, a landmark piece of municipal court reform legislation, has positively impacted Missouri’s judicial system.
Chief Justice Breckenridge’s speech was also a confirmation that while the Legislature is on the right track, there is more work to be done. Senate Bill 765, banning traffic ticket quotas, is a continuation of our reform efforts. Although hard to believe, encouraging or requiring a political subdivision employee to issue a certain number of traffic citations is currently only illegal in St. Louis County. Senate Bill 765 modifies the current law by applying it to any political subdivision in the state, not just St. Louis County.
This week the Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 51, which disapproves a 5 percent property tax increase on Missouri farmers and ranchers. The State Tax Commission is required to make recommendations for tax adjustments on agricultural property every two years. The commission’s recommendations go into effect if the Legislature doesn’t intervene. This is exactly what happened in 2014, and that is why Missouri farmers saw their property tax rate increase by 5 percent last year.
As legislators, we have a responsibility to the people of Missouri to protect our state’s No. 1 industry, which was unfortunately hard hit by poor farming conditions and mass flooding in 2015. The formula the commission uses does not take into account significant contributing factors like flooding or market volatility. When the Senate considered all the factors—the flooding, low commodity prices and the 5 percent tax increase that just took effect—we determined that now is not the time to raise taxes on Missouri farmers and ranchers.
It is expected that farmers will need to double their production by 2050 in order to keep pace with the world’s growing population. This is just one of the reasons why our goal should always be to encourage growth in the Show-Me State’s agricultural industry, especially among our future generations of farmers; any tax increase at this time would only serve to discourage potential growth.
Contact Me
I always appreciate hearing your comments, opinions and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-2173. You may write to me at Senator Ron Richard, Missouri Senate, State Capitol, 201 W. Capitol Ave., Rm. 326, Jefferson City, MO 65101; e-mail me at ron.richard@senate.mo.gov or visit me on the Web at www.senate.mo.gov/richard.
– END –