State Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, has officially launched his campaign for Missouri governor. If elected as governor next year, he hopes to cut taxes.
“We have to understand that, right now in the state of Missouri, and actually I think this is true for most states, we are sending more of our dollars to government – local government, state government, federal government combined than ever before, adjusted for inflation,” he said. “I think if you ask most everyday Missourians if they feel like they are getting more for the dollars they send to government, the answer would be overwhelmingly no.”
He said that the state government can function more efficiently with less money.
“If you look at a Missouri and what we’re spending per person in this state at the state level, it’s twice that of what a state like Florida is spending per person,” said Eigel. “I think we have a lot of room both at the state and the local level if we’re talking personal property tax to cut those rates, to cut that burden without having to then reach around and stab the taxpayer in the back somewhere else by just replacing it with another tax.”
Eigel proposed lowering the personal property tax rate from 33-1/3% to 31% for autos, farm equipment, and other personal property, but it failed to make it across the finish line during this year’s legislative session.
In response, he said that despite the Republican supermajority controlling the House and Senate, the “wrong Republicans” are in office.
“We have a center-left coalition of Republicans in Jefferson City that have made the budget bigger than it’s ever been before. It’s grown from $20 billion in 2010 to $53 billion this year alone,” Eigel said. “They are more focused on new decision items. The value of every personal property tax bill for every citizen in the state is about $1.7 billion. This is not a question of whether or not government has enough of your money, they have too much of your money.”
Eigel said Missouri is missing out on businesses and opportunities coming to the Show-Me State due to Missouri not providing, in his view, “the right environment” that helps a business grow and that attract families.
He faces off against Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe for the Republican nomination for governor. Also running for governor as a Democrat is House Minority Leader Crystal Quade of Springfield.
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