This local sent ten members to the 2025 Joint Legislative Conference a couple weeks ago. One topic we discussed with our elected officials was honoring the vote of Missourians that supported the creation of a Paid Leave program last November. Many of our Republican representatives told us that this legislation would be costly to small business. We recognize this could be an issue.
We proposed a solution. At the time of our discussion there were bills to reduce the Capital Gains and Corporate taxes. We asked if the budget was so flush that the state could give more tax cuts to the richest Missourians why couldn’t we use some of those funds to provide a tax incentive to small businesses to help with the expense of providing paid leave to employees?
The response was: We didn’t think of that.
Yesterday the Missouri Independent shared Missouri lawmakers set to pass capital gains tax cut with questions about it’s total cost...
In the fiscal note prepared for the capital gains exemption, the Department of Revenue estimates that the combined individual and corporate exemption would reduce state revenues by approximately $235 million annually. The individual income portion would be about $111 million a year.
But federal tax data from returns filed for 2022 shows individual income tax filers from Missouri reported $13.3 billion in capital gains income. Allowing a deduction of that amount would reduce state revenue by more than $600 million if it is all taxed at the top rate of 4.7%, said Carl Davis, research director at the institute.
Evidently, cutting taxes for the rich even if the projected cost is unknown is a priority. More of a priority than respecting the votes of Missourians and providing paid leave. As the session continues, they are still trying to gut the will of the people. You can stand up for Paid Leave by contacting your State Representative and Senator today.
