Last week, my fellow legislators and I returned to the State Capitol to convene the annual veto session and an extra legislative session called by the governor to address income tax cuts and various agricultural provisions.

Veto Session

Each year, the Missouri General Assembly convenes for the constitutionally required veto session to discuss whether or not to override any of the governor’s vetoes. A two-thirds vote of both the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives is required to override a veto.

Earlier this summer, the governor vetoed House Bill 2090, which included a provision that would allow qualified taxpayers to claim a $500 tax credit for individuals earning less than $150,000 and a $1,000 credit for couples earning under $300,000. The governor preferred to provide an income tax cut for all Missourians, so he called lawmakers back for an extra session to pass that legislation. The governor also vetoed House Bill 1720, citing the desire to establish a six-year sunset on the agricultural tax credits included in the bill, instead of the two-year sunset that was passed in HB 1720.

This year, both chambers of the Legislature did not take action on any of the vetoed bills, and we adjourned to end the veto session on Wednesday, Sept. 21.

Extraordinary Session

The governor called legislators back for an extra legislative session to address his concerns with HB 2090 and HB 1720. The General Assembly may only pass legislation related to the topics the governor specified in his call, so we will be focused on income tax cuts and agriculture tax credits.

Senate Bills 3 & 5 would lower Missouri’s top income tax rate from 5.3% to 4.95% beginning in 2023 and contains triggers to continue lowering the top income tax rate to 4.5% as long as Missouri’s economy grows. This legislation would also eliminate the lowest income tax bracket. The Missouri Senate passed these bills on Wednesday, Sept. 21, and sent them to the Missouri House of Representatives for their consideration.

Senate Bill 8 was also filed during the extra session to address the governor’s concerns. The bill includes several agricultural provisions, including the Wood Energy Tax Credit, Meat Processing Facilities Tax Credit, Ethanol Fuel Tax Credit, Biodiesel Retail Sale Tax Credit, Biodiesel Production Tax Credit, Urban Farms Tax Credit, Rolling Stock Tax Credit, Farm Machinery Sales Tax Exemption and Agricultural Production Tax Credits. This legislation also establishes a specialty agricultural crops loan program for family farmers and expands the definition of “small farmer” in the Family Farms Act to include farms that have less than $500,000 in gross sales per year. The Missouri Senate passed SB 8 on Wednesday, Sept. 21, and sent it to the Missouri House of Representatives for their consideration.

As of right now, we plan to finish extra session in the next couple of weeks, so I look forward to sharing more of our progress with you then.