TAX HOLIDAY? OK. BUT WHY NOT 365 DAYS A YEAR?

The Missouri Senate has been considering a bill that would enact a sales tax holiday for nine days in August, timed for back-to-school purchases. By the end of last week, it appeared the measure was dead for this legislative session.

Sponsored by state Sen. Ken Jacob, D-Columbia, this is an idea that has been tried and worked well in Florida, Texas and New York City.

If passed, Jacob's Senate Bill 1016 would exempt clothing purchased beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Aug. 12 through midnight on Aug. 20 from state and local sales tax. It would apply to all retail sales of clothing having a taxable value of $100 or less. The proposal contains a clause providing for the state to reimburse cities, towns and county governments for any lost revenue. Jacob says the state would lose $6.5 million in revenue.

That amount doesn't seem very large in a $17 billion state budget. But you wouldn't know that from listening to some lawmakers. State Sen. Betty Sims, R-St. Louis, said that with tax cuts already enacted in recent years and a tight budget picture coming into focus, the state can't do this without putting important programs at risk. "We are not in the position to be looking at this," Sims said. State Sen. John Schneider, D-St. Louis, derided the bill as "the goofiest thing I ever heard." State Sen. Jim Mathewson, D-Sedalia, said, "As I looked at this thing and talked to my retailers, this just scared the heck out of them as to how it would work."

Well, maybe. Then again, maybe not. Jacobs is correct in arguing that based on the experience of other states, such concerns are vastly overblown. Why not try it for a year and see how it works?

If lawmakers get out and talk to the folks they represent, they might discover plenty of support from the sort of hardworking taxpayers who rarely have ever seen a tax cut they didn't like. It may take a few years to sell this one to skeptical lawmakers, but we're betting there's a tax holiday in your future some time down the road.

The best tax holiday, of course, would be a 365-day-a-year cut.