Today Missouri voters rejected Amendment 5, declining to give lawmakers a blank check to raise or expand sales taxes, something some lawmakers sought to enable enormous income tax cuts for the state’s wealthiest households. By doing so, voters in the Show-Me State set a positive example for states around the country, turning away from what would have been one of the most damaging tax policy changes in any state in recent years.
Otherwise divided voters were united in rejecting redistributing taxes away from the wealthy. Despite a well-funded campaign and no signs of wholesale rejection of their elected leaders, Missourians across the state rejected their governor’s biggest priority.
Taxing the wealthy remains popular and the results in Missouri clearly reflect that voters broadly understand the need for a fair tax system across the political spectrum. Proponents of cutting taxes for only the wealthy have to spend significant resources to overcome voters’ core opposition and, as was the case in Missouri, voters can still mobilize to protect their own interests.
ITEP’s analysis found that replacing Missouri’s individual income tax with higher or broader sales taxes would have increased taxes by an average of $535 a year for households earning approximately $49,000 to $80,000. Missourians earning between roughly $24,000 and $49,000 could have paid about $850 more each year, while the richest 1 percent would have received an average annual tax cut of nearly $40,000.
Seniors also had a great deal at stake. Because Social Security benefits are already exempt from Missouri’s income tax, many seniors would have received little or no income tax cut while paying more on everyday purchases. ITEP estimated that seniors would have paid approximately $335 million more each year under the proposed tax shift.
Missouri’s tax system already asks its lowest-income families to pay a larger share of their earnings in state and local taxes than the richest 1 percent. Amendment 5 would have made that imbalance worse while jeopardizing a revenue source that supplies roughly 64 percent of the state’s general fund.
Lawmakers should respect the voters’ decision and abandon efforts to shift taxes away from wealthy households and onto families who spend most of their income on necessities. Missouri needs tax policies that make life more affordable, adequately fund public services, and ask those with the greatest ability to pay to contribute their fair share.
