JEFFERSON CITY — Senator Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, released his comments on the announced roundtable discussion with the governor today (8-4) at the Greene County Public Safety Center.
“I look forward to having the governor in Springfield once again, and welcome him to our city, as I do all frequent visitors to Southwest Missouri.
I trust that his discussion with local officials and first responders will be a productive one. I have offered to meet with the governor as well and discuss the bases for his concerns. It has been my experience that Missourians benefit from frank, open discussions of legislation and public policy. I bear no ill will toward the governor personally, and can respect honest policy differences as the basis for executive action.
However, I think everyone would prefer an ounce of executive engagement in the legislative process to the proverbial pound of flesh in budget cuts to vital services and repetitive eleventh-hour tours.
We must broaden our horizons from individual tax bills to the larger issue of revising Missouri’s antiquated tax code. Our tax policies should reward the hard work of the individual taxpayer and small independent business owner, and help working Missourians earn an honest living and keep more of what they earn. Tax policy cannot consist of unwritten bureaucratic enforcement policies and judicial interpretation of outdated statutes. Everyone would do well to remember the cost to local governments of the 2012 Street decision (where judicial interpretation of tax statutes cost Greene County approximately $880,000 in tax revenue). How many more Street decisions await us, the longer we wait to bring clarity to our tax code?
It would be my hope that the participants in this particular roundtable would widen the focus to include a broader discussion of local government finances and a revision of the tax code.
I would also hope more attention is given to the real, immediate and negative impact of indiscriminate cuts and line item vetoes to the budget in the areas of economic development, public safety, and public health, including:
- Funding for seven tax assistance centers statewide, including the Springfield center, resulting in their closure;
- $12.6 million for the MO Works Job Development Fund;
- $4.25 million in tourism funds;
- $750,000 for small business services, including the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board and Small Business and Technology Development Centers (SBDTC);
- $100,000 to Regional Planning Commissions;
- $500,000 for drug task forces;
- $4.1 million in School Safety Grants from MOSMART;
- $1.5 million in grant funds for Cyber Crimes Task Forces;
- $1.95 million in services for abused kids and sexual assault victims;
- Over $4.5 million for local public health agencies and public health services, including the Elks Mobile Dental Program, newborn screening services, tobacco cessation, and rural health clinics; and
- $450,000 for Area Agencies on Aging.
This year, the General Assembly demonstrated the ability to work together in a non-partisan manner and accomplish a long-overdue revision of the Missouri Criminal Code, with or without the involvement of the executive branch. I believe we can—and must—pursue a similar course to revise our tax code.”
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