by State Representative Casey Guernsey
Last week the House of Representatives took important action focusing on improving Missouri's business climate to adequately compete in today's markets. We passed out of the House my legislation putting an end to repeat nuisance lawsuits against farmers and agri-businesses. This is an enormous victory for those of us living in North Missouri and anyone in the farming business. The Senate also took quick action and passed Senator Lager's version of the same bill. The overwhelming super-majority lent to my legislation speaks volumes in and of itself; this is not a Republican or Democrat issue, this is a jobs issue. Anyone in agriculture today knows the threat of a lawsuit alone is enough to potentially put them out of business, it is imperative we send this bill to the Governor to keep Missouri's Agricultural sector the largest in the state. I urge you to contact the Governor's office in support of this legislation, his phone number is: 573.751.3222. If we do not, I fear it will be impossible for us to remain in the animal agriculture industry in Missouri thanks to literally 3 out of state trial attorneys who are manipulating our laws to line their pockets with tens of millions of dollars. His veto would also open the doors to further abuse of our nuisance laws to allow for the suit against any farmer regardless of commodity. We have all heard of farmers in other states being sued for harvesting after hours, stirring up dust, etc. We can not allow these attorneys the same option in Missouri.
The House also took swift action to end one form of double-taxation. Currently, Missouri franchised businesses are taxed both on their income and the value of their assets and stock. As an example this would be like getting taxed on your yearly income, and additionally on all the net income you've made your entire life. Missouri's additional tax on corporations is called the franchise tax. While Missouri has both corporate franchise and income taxes, many states simply have one or the other. As a result, when national corporations or smaller franchises are choosing where to locate, Missouri's double taxation scares them away.or pushes companies to re-locate outside of Missouri. By allowing businesses to keep its money, we know they will invest it in jobs right here in the Show-Me-State. The amount of money we will allow these corporations to save will be the equivalent of 1,700 jobs at $50,000 each. Cutting taxes is the best way to improve the job market for Missourians and I was very pleased to lend my strong support to this common sense legislation.
This session we have focused primarily on creating jobs in our state. We started the session with a plan to turn the state economy around by fundamentally changing the business environment and HB 76 is part of it. HB 76 phases out the state's franchise tax over a period of five years. Without the franchise tax, our state will become more attractive to businesses looking to move here and create jobs. Missouri collects less than 3% of its revenue from corporate taxes of any kind and the franchise tax is only part of this collection. In addition, Missouri entrepreneur's operate on a shoestring budget, and a little bit of tax here or there is the difference between hiring someone new or closing down. The elimination of the double tax will only help our small business owners. Join me in supporting HB 76 to eliminate corporate double-taxation. It's about attracting new businesses and creating new jobs. As always, feel free to contact me anytime with your thoughts or concerns. My phone number is 573.751.4285 and my email is Casey.Guernsey@house.mo.gov.
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