Governor Jay Nixon (D) today signed seven bills and vetoed eight.
Governor Jay Nixon (photo: Mike Lear, Missourinet)
One bill he signed will give a full income tax deduction to active duty military members who live in Missouri. Active duty military members had been charged income taxes only if they live in the state. Nixon said the bill was a common-sense provision that will encourage more military men and women to live in Missouri.
“If a Missouri military person is stationed at Fort Leavenworth they don’t have to pay tax but if they’re stationed at Fort Leonard Wood they do? That just doesn’t make any sense and I’m glad the legislature fixed that up to equalize that treatment,” said Nixon.
Another bill signed today will create a sales tax exemption for sales, rentals, parts, and repairs of durable medical equipment as well as parts for some health care equipment such as wheelchairs. Nixon lauded these tax cuts as helping Missourians without costing the state much revenue.
He was critical, though, of other tax cut proposals that were among the bills he vetoed. One of those would make disaster or emergency payments to farmers since 2014 non-taxable. Nixon said that could cost the state as much as $50-million.
“I am more than willing to sign tax cuts, as I have today and as I have in the past, as long as they make good sense for Missouri. But any legislation that’s going to further reduce the revenues we have to pay for things like schools, scholarships, and public safety has to meet a high bar,” said Nixon.
Other bills Nixon signed expand the ability of non-profits and other organizations to receive refunds if they are incorrectly charged sales or use tax; will allow businesses to file W-2 forms electronically; will require public water systems that plan to add or remove fluoridation from a water supply to notify customers at least 90 days before a vote on that decision; clarifies a tax exemption for internet access and use; and clarifies the law regarding the property tax value of mines.
Nixon vetoed bills that would replace the state’s standard for evaluating expert witnesses in civil trials with a federal standard; limit what juries can review in a trial to out-of-pocket expenses of insurance companies and victims and not the cost of medical treatments; would eliminate liability for owners of livestock that get loose and damage other people’s property; would create a 50-percent capital gains tax break for companies that become employee owned; would exempt “instructional classes” such as dance and yoga classes from sales taxes; would create new notice requirements and hearings for state employers taking disciplinary action against employees; and would eliminate a requirement that members of the public be on the clean water commission.
