Steelman calls for tax cuts, tax study during Cape visit

State Treasurer Sarah Steelman proposed a tax cut for every Missourian who pays income tax during a stop Wednesday in Cape Girardeau.

At a news conference, Steelman unveiled her plan to increase the personal exemption and dependent deductions as well as a call for a commission of economists and business people to study every aspect of the state tax system.

Steelman, elected state treasurer in 2004 after six years in the state Senate, is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in the Aug. 5 primary. Steelman faces U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof of Columbia and two lesser-known candidates for the chance to replace Gov. Matt Blunt.

Steelman wants to increase the personal exemption, a deduction each taxpayer receives, from $2,100 to $2,625 for single filers and from $4,200 to $5,250 for married couples. The change would save a single person paying the highest tax rate of 6 percent just over $31 a year.

She also called for an increase in the dependent deduction, to $2,100 from $1,200. That change would save each taxpayer uo to $54 per year for each dependent.

Neither the personal exemption nor the dependent deduction have been increased since 1999, Steelman said. The changes she is recommending would reflect inflation since that time, she said.

The proposal is part of a six-point program on taxes that also includes an 11-member Missouri Tax Code Review Commission that would conduct a comprehensive study of all Missouri taxes. The panel, which she said would include two economists from the Federal Reserve Banks in Kansas City and St. Louis, would have 100 days to report its findings and recommendations, she said.

"Everything should be on the table, every tax and every tax credit," Steelman said.

For updates, check back at semissourian.com or read Thursday's Southeast Missourian.