by State Rep. J. Eggleston
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On Jan. 3, the 2018 Missouri Legislative Session began, and it will be about a week longer than recent sessions. The constitution states “The general assembly shall reconvene on the first Wednesday after the first Monday of January.” The constitution also states the working session ends “the first Friday following the second Monday in May.”
Since January began on a Monday and May begins on a Tuesday, this year’s session will be the longest it can possibly be. Hopefully, that will allow for the body to accomplish more positive reforms for the good of our fellow Missourians.
In his opening speech to kick off the new session, Missouri’s Speaker of the House Todd Richardson said, “Today, we begin the 2018 Legislative session as a group of farmers, teachers, business owners, attorneys, doctors, and officers of the law. Both Republicans and Democrats …just regular Missourians with the desire to make a difference.”
Among the stated priorities of this year’s session are ending human trafficking, enacting a lobbyist gift ban, reforming our state income tax code to adapt to recent changes made to the federal income tax code, continuing last year’s efforts in labor reform and tort (lawsuit) reform, and dealing with transportation funding.
Regarding transportation, the 21st Century Transportation Task Force, a panel made up largely of state legislators, completed their 10th and final public outreach meeting on the possibilities of more funding for MoDOT, and have now released a paper outlining their findings and recommendations. Among them, are a 10-cent per gallon increase in the gas tax and 12-cent per gallon increase in the diesel fuel tax.
Also entertained is the possibility of increasing license fees for electric vehicles since they cause road wear and tear, but pay little to no gas tax.
As for income tax reform, the federal government recently passed a tax reform bill that, according to my analysis, will lower income taxes for Americans across nearly every filing type and income level. But parts of our Missouri tax code are coupled with the federal tax code, and so will need to be changed.
As the vice chairman of our Ways & Means committee, I plan to be a big part of the discussion of improving our income tax laws to insure government services are properly funded, and at the same time simplify our tax system so average Missourians can understand it, fill out their own tax returns, and save some of their hard-earned money with lower taxes.