Last week, I was invited to testify on Missouri House Bill 1366, a combined tax cut and tax credit reform of the type we have discussed many, many times. Particularly after the passage of Boeing's special tax cut last year, it is even more important to reiterate that a better tax policy is one that doesn't choose winners and losers in the tax code, but one that empowers all Missourians. I also submitted testimony this week on what is left of 2011's Aerotropolis, the Missouri Export Incentive Act. As you might expect, this proposed legislation doubles down on a broken tax credit status quo by, ultimately, unnecessarily subsidizing imports. I will be following both bills closely… for obviously different reasons.

But those, of course, aren't the only bills I'm following, and on Wednesday, another piece of legislation — a big tax cut — cleared its first hurdle in the House. That bill, HB 1253, is a stripped-down version of last year's Broad-Based Tax Relief Act. The new bill gets back to the basics, cutting taxes for businesses of all sizes by half over a five-year period (assuming the revenue triggers are made annually, of course.) I expect that simplicity will serve the bill well, and so it was not surprising that the bill received significant backing from the chamber yesterday with a 104-48 vote.

We have talked repeatedly about how destructive income taxes, and particularly taxes on business income, are to growth. It is good to see the legislature responsibly moving forward to lift the tax burden on the family businesses in our communities, just as it was so willing to do for Boeing just a few months ago. Long way to go, but this is a start.