Disability advocates, education officials mount final push against tax-cut bill

Local public school officials, advocates for mental health services and seniors and Southeast Missouri State University's president joined forces Monday in Cape Girardeau to oppose a veto override vote of a tax-cut bill up for vote this week in the Missouri Capitol.

House Bill 253, according to its supporters, will boost the state's economic growth by phasing in a 50 percent tax deduction for business income over the next five years, along with reducing the income tax rate by 0.5 percent for individuals and 3 percent for corporations over the next 10 years. For the cuts to go into effect, state revenue would have to rise by $100 million annually.

Opponents led by Gov. Jay Nixon, who vetoed the bill earlier this summer, say the tax cut poses a threat to state revenue and may force cuts to appropriations for K-12 public schools, higher education and mental health services.

The state legislature is expected to vote on overriding the governor's veto during a session that starts Wednesday.

Lobbying groups have gone head to head on both sides of the issue -- with supporters of an override using business groups and opponents using educators, but the outcome remains unclear. A group that represents more than 40 organizations, the Coalition for Missouri's Future, pulled together the panel for the local event Monday. Panelists were Matthew Rigdon, a policy advocate for SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence; Ilena Aslin of AARP Missouri; Kenneth Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University; Jim Welker, superintendent of the Cape Girardeau School District; Ron Anderson, superintendent of the Jackson School District; and Dave Green, school board president of the Malden School District.

Effects on services

Rigdon said SADI's biggest issue with the tax cut is that it could jeopardize mental health service providers' ability to provide services in several areas -- for the agency specifically, a cut in funding could mean less in-home services. The services now allow people with disabilities to stay in their homes versus going to a nursing home, Rigdon said. The $164 million the governor projects will be cut from mental health services statewide if the bill takes effect could also prevent early diagnosis for autism, Rigdon said, which has proved to be an important step in successful treatment of the condition.

Dobbins warned of the closure of Cottonwood Treatment Center, a residential facilities for mentally disturbed children, and reduction in funding for the Southeast Missouri State University Autism Center for Diagnosis and Treatment if the veto is overridden. Both those facilities are tied to the university and would cause a loss for students by taking away internship possibilities, Dobbins said.

By the university's estimates, a $1.7 million cut to state appropriations could take effect as a result of the tax cut. To make up that amount, Dobbins said, tuition could need to go up by $9 per credit hour, which would have to be approved by the university's Board of Regents, he said.

"That's a significant amount for many of our students," Dobbins said. "Many of them are first-generation college students and a lot use financial aid. It might make the difference of whether they go to college or they don't."

Dobbins said the university and advocates of sustaining the override are "absolutely, positively not," against decreases in state revenue as a result of a tax cut, "but we want to make sure that we do it in a way that's not going to hurt the education system that's already underfunded in Missouri."

The university, by comparison to about a decade ago, has lost $11 million in state appropriations over several years of state cuts for higher education.

Layoffs possible

K-12 officials, including Welker, Anderson and Green, said they couldn't rule out teacher layoffs, pushing back planned technology upgrades and other services if the tax cut bill veto is overridden.

In Cape Girardeau, Welker said the district could consider reducing the size of the staff and possibly push back a technology initiative that would place computers in the hands of all students. Schools already don't receive the state funding they're entitled to through Missouri's school funding formula, he said.

"There is a lot of risk out there, and I don't think [the tax cut issue] has been looked at in the depth it needs to be," Anderson said.

In Jackson, Anderson said he does not want schools to be forced to go to voters for property tax increases because the district isn't receiving the amount it needs from the state.

Potentially higher sales or property taxes are also a concern for seniors, Aslin said.

"If Missouri cuts state taxes, other taxes, like local property and sales taxes will increase, because communities won't have what they need to support the local schools, transportation and other services," she said.

Missouri's Speaker of the House, Tim Jones, released an opinion piece on the bill Monday, in which he said people shouldn't believe the "scare tactics" about the results of the tax cuts.

"By overriding Governor Nixon's veto of House Bill 253, we have a chance to modernize our tax system and lower the financial burden for every Missourian for the first time in more than 90 years," Jones wrote. "The simple reforms contained in this bill would help Missouri compete for new jobs and pave the way for the growth our state desperately needs."

Jones also said the "tax cut would have no adverse impact on seniors or education as [Nixon] claims."

eragan@semissourian.com

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