May 29, 2013
Dear Governor Nixon,
As Missouri’s premier business trade association, we strongly urge you to sign House Bill 253.
Today is the late President John F. Kennedy’s birthday. Nearly 50 years ago, in a radio and television address broadcast on September 18, 1963, then-President Kennedy said, “A tax cut means higher family income and higher business profits and a balanced federal budget. Every taxpayer and his family will have more money left over after taxes for a new car, a new home, new conveniences, education and investment. Every businessman can keep a higher percentage of his profits in his cash register or put it to work expanding or improving his business, and as the national income grows, the federal government will ultimately end up with more revenues.”
While the times have changed, the economic concept of increasing government revenues by allowing taxpayers to choose how to spend or invest more of their money is just as applicable for state taxes today as it was for federal taxes in 1963. Allowing business operators to hire more employees, pay current employees better, or invest in equipment and machinery to improve their businesses will result in additional activity that will grow the economy.
But House Bill 253 takes that concept one step further by guaranteeing state revenues will increase before taxes are significantly reduced. This will protect state coffers from the $700 million loss predicted by some because the state must collect $1 billion in new tax revenues before this amount would be cut – resulting in a net gain in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
We believe the tax cuts contained in House Bill 253 are a responsible way to allow Missouri to compete with other states for new business while helping our existing Missouri businesses at the same time.
The bill contains other measures designed to increase state revenues, including an amnesty program for delinquent taxpayers, a strengthened nexus law to allow the Missouri Department of Revenue to more aggressively encourage interstate vendors to collect Missouri taxes on sales to Missouri residents, and a streamlining of our state and local sales tax laws.
We respectfully ask you sign this bill into law and help ALL Missouri taxpayers. Please let me know if you have any questions and thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Ray McCarty President/CEO
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