REPUBLICANS: CARNAHAN TAX CUT PROPOSAL ONLY AN ELECTION-YEAR PLOY

While happy to hear Gov. Mel Carnahan voice support for a tax cut, some area Republicans find the timing of his announcement interesting.

"It's great to see the governor is an election year convert to tax-cutting," said Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau.

During his State of the State address Wednesday before a joint session of the General Assembly, Carnahan discussed a proposal to lower the state sales tax by one-quarter of a cent.

"I'm glad to hear him propose a quarter-cent tax cut, but it's amusing that three years ago he proposed a large tax increase," said Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson, referring to the 1993 tax-and-reform education package pushed by Carnahan without a vote of the people.

House Democratic Whip Larry Thomason of Kennett said the call for a tax cut is a result of the state's prosperity.

"Missouri's economy generally lags behind the economy of the nation," Thomason said. "But in the last couple years under his administration, Missouri has moved ahead."

But Kinder said limitations in the Hancock Amendment, which caps how much government can raise taxes without a vote of the people, were violated in 1993 and spurred Carnahan to call for the cuts.

"He opposed the Hancock Amendment in the 1980s and it is that very amendment that is forcing him into a tax cut this year," Kinder said.

Thomason called the Republican criticism political posturing. He said the 1993 tax increase affects only corporations, the gaming industry and individuals with personal income of more than $75,000, not the average Missourian.

"It they're not making $75,000 a year, they are untouched," Thomason said .

Tax cuts should go even further, Kinder said, and include an elimination of the inheritance tax and a tripling of the state income tax deduction for dependents, currently $400 per dependent. "It hasn't changed in 50 years," he said.

Schwab and Kinder called other Carnahan proposals -- for example, the governor's Safe Schools package to combat school crime -- borrowed Republican ideas. A similar plan backed by Republicans passed the Senate last year, but died on the House calendar.

"You can sure tell it is an election year from the comments the governor made," Schwab said. "I think back to his other speeches in past years about health care, collective bargaining and strong gun control. Now this year you see the conservative issues come out."

Said Kinder: "Gov. Carnahan spent three years governing left and now 10 months out from election time he talks conservative."