Missouri lawmakers postpone special session on Parson’s income tax cut proposal
Missouri lawmakers on Tuesday postponed the legislature’s upcoming tax cut special session until Sept. 14, according to an email from Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden obtained by The Star.
In a mass email sent to Senate staffers, Rowden said Republican leaders in the House and Senate met Tuesday and decided to give lawmakers more time to discuss the upcoming session and gather input from staff. It was originally scheduled for Sept. 6.
“One point of agreement we came to was, given the nature of the scope of what we are doing here, giving more time for us to get it right was needed,” the email said.
Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson announced the special session last week and said lawmakers would return to Jefferson City to pass a sweeping income tax cut and extend tax credits for farmers. Parson said last week that the two tax plans would be introduced in the Missouri Senate under one bill.
The proposed permanent tax cut, if approved, would lower Missouri’s top individual income tax rate from 5.3% to 4.8%. The agricultural tax credit plan would reauthorize a variety of tax credits for farmers that would expire after six years instead of the two year sunset that lawmakers approved this year.
Parson said last week that the two proposals would included in one bill to make it easier for lawmakers to pass in a short amount of time. Tuesday’s decision to postpone the session indicates that Parson’s expedited plan may be in jeopardy.
Rowden, in a statement posted on Twitter Tuesday, said the meeting among GOP leadership was productive and lawmakers needed more time to revise the legislation.
“Our intent is to continue discussions next week with the goal of beginning legislative action during the week of Veto Session,” the tweet said.
