Tax-cut legislation flaws

The supporters of House Bill 253 note repeatedly that Oklahoma is the model to reference for reducing corporate and income taxes and to see growth of revenue in the state. However, the benefactors leave out the fact Oklahoma and Missouri almost have nothing in common economically. Oklahoma has oil and gas businesses that are booming, which create a substantial income by severance taxes for the state. Missouri does not have the oil and natural gas revenue to help offset the loss of other revenue. There are other surrounding states which have lowered taxes and are not mentioned by the supporters of HB 253. (See the Aug. 28 front-page article.)

Advocates of House HB 253 imply the bill will help small businesses due to the tax reduction. The fact remains that most mom-and-pop businesses, as well as small businesses, are sole proprietorships, LLCs or S corporations. Each are taxed at the individual level, as opposed to the corporate level. The individual level of tax reduction in HB 253 is only 0.5 percent, or one-half of 1 percent, while corporations get a 3 percent reduction.

This bill also increases the tax on prescription drugs, which are primarily used by the sick and the elderly. Cutting taxes for billionaires and corporations, while collecting more taxes from the sick and the elderly. Does it seem that our Republican legislators are truly thinking about the people, or are they thinking about the bottom line for big corporations?

JONAH T. YATES, Cape Girardeau