If Missouri House Republicans have their way, my wife and I will be receiving a $457 check — maybe more — from the state government later this year.
That’s how much we paid when we filed our state taxes. It was a good year, well, depending on your perspective. We made more money last year (thanks, President Joe Biden), but weren’t smart enough about pre-paying some of our taxes or setting enough aside in our kids’ college savings accounts.
So, we wrote a check to the government. OK, who am I kidding? Nobody writes checks anymore. We made an electronic payment.
Pushed by House budget chairman, Rep. Cody Smith, R-Carthage, a proposal passed the House last week that would provide up to $500 in tax rebates for some Missourians like me, though it faces an uncertain future in the Senate. The Republicans who lead that chamber want to do what Smith wouldn’t: Spend the $1 billion on teachers’ raises and other state priorities.
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The debate is an interesting one because in one sense, Democrats and Republicans are united: Members of both parties want to share some of the state’s financial bounty — much of it federal pass-through funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (thanks, President Biden) — with Missourians. But who gets the bounty, and for what purpose?
Democrats in the House, led by Rep. Kevin Windham, D-ºüÀêÊÓƵ, sought to give up to $1,000 rebates to Missourians living in poverty, including senior citizens on a fixed income, to help them deal with the rising costs of inflation. When Republicans voted down that idea, state Rep. Peter Merideth, D-ºüÀêÊÓƵ, tried to put a cap on incomes so people who make $100,000 or more weren’t eligible for the rebate sponsored by Smith.
That idea was voted down, too.
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, called Smith’s proposal “a rushed and poorly conceived giveaway for the rich,†and she’s not wrong.
My wife and I won’t turn our backs on $457, but it strikes me as odd that we should get such a check, while many of the people I wrote about recently who were locked out of their apartments illegally and face skyrocketing rents that have much more to do with greed than inflation, won’t qualify under the House Republican proposal.
You know who could use $457? Sanciarey Nelson, or Anthony Glasby or Tamara Roseburrow. Each of them works for a living, but they’re poor enough that it is unlikely they will qualify. The fiscal note on Smith’s proposal estimates that 877,000 Missourians won’t qualify for the rebate, because they don’t have enough tax liability.
Aren’t those the people who need the money most, who would spend it immediately and help the economy continue its post-pandemic recovery? It’s likely they are already working. Unemployment is at an all-time low. (Thanks, President Biden).
That’s why, while lawmakers in many states and cities are discussing tax rebates and direct payments — such as the federal child tax credit that pulled millions of children out of poverty but has since lapsed — one of the ideas that is gaining steam is the one floated by ºüÀêÊÓƵ Mayor Tishaura O. Jones in her State of the City speech last week.
“Families need food, clothes, new shoes for the kids, gas to get back and forth to work. That simplicity should speak to us as leaders,†Jones said. “That’s why my administration is exploring the potential of a guaranteed basic income program for ºüÀêÊÓƵ families — monthly payments to help struggling families get out of poverty and stay out of poverty.â€
It’s an idea being tried or discussed in Los Angeles, Chicago and Minnesota.
So, while both Republicans and Democrats are talking about making payments to American families, there is a clear difference in their approach. Missouri House Republicans seem to be following the lead of the national GOP laid out by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. That plan would increase taxes on poor and middle-class Americans and cut Social Security and Medicare. According to nonpartisan analysis of Scott’s plan, 97% of the cost of it would be borne by people who make less than $100,000 a year.
Like I said, I’d appreciate a $457 check as much as the next guy. But as a matter of public policy, I’d rather see my kids’ teachers get a raise, or people who are struggling to pay rent get some help.
Either way, it’s good that Republicans and Democrats have come together on one point of agreement: Some of the bounty from the American Rescue Plan should get directly into the hands of the American people.
Thanks, President Biden.