TAX CUT ON FOOD IS RESULT OF HANCOCK AMENDMENT

Week-before-last saw Gov. Mel Carnahan sign into law a three-cent cut in the sales tax on food passed by the Legislature last month. It is the major portion of a $322 million tax cut for Missourians. The other major feature is a provision making equal the tax treatment between government and private-sector pensions that will be phased in over five years. The tax cut covers items listed by the federal government as eligible to be purchased with food stamps -- that is, food that must be taken home and prepared. The tax cut doesn't cover food already prepared at the supermarket, such as deli sandwiches.

While we would have liked a larger tax cut -- and one that included income-tax relief rolling back some of the Carnahan tax increases of 1993 -- we'll take this one.

There's another key factor to remember: This cut should really be called the Mel Hancock tax cut. The only reason the politicians ended up passing it, instead of spending the money on favored constituencies, is due to Hancock's work in persuading Missourians to pass his tax limitation amendment back in 1980. While far from perfect, the Hancock Amendment nonetheless proves itself an effective mechanism for slowing the growth of government and returning the people some of their hard-earned money.