HB 2540 and SB 674 House Full Vote

Missouri legislators may soon be considering separate tax bills that would make Missouri’s tax system even more unfair and would take away critical resources our communities need to prosper. These cuts include funding for public schools. Missouri PTA opposes any measure that would take away funding for schools in Missouri. The loss of revenue generated from individual income tax is a large portion of funding for Missouri schools. Without quality schools it will be hard to attract new businesses and may even cause the loss of existing businesses, which hurts all of Missouri.

Contact your legislators today to let them know you OPPOSE these bills.

The irresponsible tax giveaways included in HB 2540 and SB 674 far outweigh the positive changes they include.

Senate Bill 674 would cut Missouri’s corporate tax rate nearly in half, benefiting large corporations, and changes are being made to House Bill 2540 that remove positive components that were in the original bill, like closing loopholes. Instead, the changes are doubling down on tax cuts that are weighted to benefit the wealthiest Missourians. Already in Missouri:

The vast majority of Missouri families already pay a higher portion of their income in taxes than the top 20%.
This unfair system has caused a budget crisis that is leaving our communities without the resources they need to prosper.
This bill would place Missouri on a fiscal path that would make Kansas’ recent experience with tax cuts look like a cake walk.
This bill would provide large tax cuts to wealthy Missourians, at the expense of everyone else. SB 617 would give Missourians with average incomes of $1.387 million a tax cut of $11,096 in 2019, while most working Missourians would see little impact or even tax increases. In fact, an analysis by the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy found that 91% of the tax cut would flow to the wealthiest 20% of Missourians.
As in the Kansas experience, Missouri would have little alternative but to move toward regressive consumption taxes (sales tax), increasing the burden on working Missourians.

Both HB 2540 and SB 674 give more unfair tax breaks to the wealthiest, leaving our families and communities to pay the price.

Schools are already struggling in part due to gaps in the budget created by the passage of SB 641 and SB 1025 in 2016. When Missouri is unable to fully fund its portion of schools every district and every child suffers. This can be felt most strongly in districts that are struggling to pay for the cost of education due to lowering property values and tax revenue. The corporate tax is vital to these schools to help to make the playing field level for all Missouri children no matter the school district.

There are a few districts in Missouri that will be better able to adjust to such a loss in income. However, what about the districts that cannot? There are several districts that already have cut music and extra-curricular activities out of their budget. They already have had to lay off support staff and may have to eventually lay off teachers. How are those schools going to be competitive with the schools that are better able to make up for decrease in funding? The further lack of funds that the loss of income tax would create a greater disparity between school districts.

Furthermore, with an educated population comes a qualified work force. This work force will help attract new businesses to Missouri. These new businesses in turn create new employment opportunities for Missourians. If we cannot fully invest in education we dissolve the very force that will propel Missouri onward. The children of Missouri deserve to have an equal chance no matter from which district they attend. We need to ensure they have career opportunities waiting for them to encourage them to stay in Missouri. Please tell your Representative to vote NO to HB 2540 and SB 674.

Tell your legislators to oppose these bills.

Dear Representative,

Missouri PTA opposes any measure that would take away funding for schools in Missouri. The loss of revenue generated from individual income tax is a large portion of funding for Missouri schools. Without quality schools it will be hard to attract new businesses and may even cause the loss of existing businesses, which hurts all of Missouri.

In the current fiscal year, the tax is budgeted to reduce $464 million for the general revenue budget. These cuts would come at a time when Missouri is already struggling to meet its budget needs due to previously enacted tax changes and would require additional and steep cuts to services including education.

Schools are already struggling in part due to gaps in the budget created by the passage of SB 641 and SB 1025 in 2016. When Missouri is unable to fully fund its portion of schools every district and every child suffers. This can be felt most strongly in districts that are struggling to pay for the cost of education due to lowering property values and tax revenue. The corporate tax is vital to these schools to help to make the playing field level for all Missouri children no matter the school district.

There are a few districts in Missouri that will be better able to adjust to such a loss in income. However, what about the districts that cannot? There are several districts that already have cut music and extra-curricular activities out of their budget. They already have had to lay off support staff and may have to eventually lay off teachers. How are those schools going to be competitive with the schools that are better able to make up for decrease in funding? We have seen several schools across Missouri lose accreditation and the fall out of students moving to other districts. The further lack of funds that the loss of income tax would create a greater disparity between school districts. This will severely impair how students can be accepted into colleges and how schools will be able to attract quality staff.

Furthermore, with an educated population comes a qualified work force. This work force will help attract new businesses to Missouri. These new businesses in turn create new employment opportunities for Missourians. If we cannot fully invest in education we dissolve the very force that will propel Missouri onward. The children of Missouri deserve to have an equal chance no matter from which district they attend. We need to ensure they have career opportunities waiting for them to encourage them to stay in Missouri. Please tell your Senator to vote NO to HB 2540 and SB 674.

Sincerely,

Your Name
PTA Unit

Not sure how to contact your state legislators? Click here and insert your street address or 9-digit zip code.

Kristina Wilmoth
VP and Director of Legislation and Advocacy
[email protected]

JC/DC ACTION ALERT: Children in Adult Prisons

**CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW**

SB 793 has been placed on the calendar for full House vote.

Currently Missouri law incarcerates children who have been charged as adults in adult prisons. While they have been charged with serious offences, these children have not yet been convicted of a crime. SB 793 would require children to be prosecuted in juvenile courts unless the child is certified as an adult or is being prosecuted for a traffic or curfew violation. Additionally, the bill specifies that no person under the age of 18 may be detained in an adult jail unless the person has been certified as an adult. This bill does NOT change the ability of the court to certify youth as adults for heinous crimes and hold these offenders in adult facilities.

*Thank you to all who sent emails to the House Judiciary Committee for getting this important bill out of committee. THIS IS THE LAST STEP BEEFORE THE BILL GOES TO THE GOVERNOR’S DESK FOR HIS SIGNATURE!!!! Please continue to engage legislators on social media using the #18in18 because 17 is too young! @molegislature @missouripta @raisetheageMO.

Dear Representative,

Children who commit serious crimes should be held accountable for their actions. However, incarcerating children charged, but not convicted, in adult facilities is a sentence in itself. Children are not the same as adults and until they are found guilty should be afforded extra protections. When children are incarcerated in adult prisons they face a dramatically increased danger of sexual assault and have higher risks of suicide. These facilities do not afford children the opportunities of education and rehabilitation services available in the juvenile detention system. Instead of working to rehabilitate these children when their mental development is at its’ capacity to learn we are teaching them to be hardened criminals.

The Missouri Model has long been the national model with regard to state juvenile justice systems. This allowance to house charged but not convicted children with adults is a flaw we need to recognize and correct. Please vote yes on SB 793 to keep kids 17 and younger out of adult prisons.

Sincerely,

Your name and PTA

Not sure how to contact your state legislators? Click here and insert your street address or 9-digit zip code.

Kristina Wilmoth
VP Legislation and Advocacy
Missouri PTA
[email protected]

We Need Your Help to Defeat a Harmful Voucher Proposal

You are receiving this email because you are from a state with one or more Republican members of Congress on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC). We urge your state PTA to participate in a social media day of action on May 2 to let these members of Congress know about the dangers of a voucher proposal that has been gaining support in recent weeks.

The Military Education Savings Account Act (H.R. 5199/S. 2517) is a bill that would divert funding from Impact Aid, a program that gives federal assistance to military schools located on federally impacted land, into a voucher program. This bill is currently being considered in the House Armed Services Committee. A vote on the bill is expected to take place in the coming weeks and we need your help to amplify the issues with this bill prior to a vote.

We urge your state PTA to get involved in the effort to defeat this bill by participating in a national social media day of action on Wednesday, May 2. The goal of this day of action is to bring lawmakers ‘s attention to the dangers of the Military Education Savings Account Act. To participate, tweet the following from your State PTA’s twitter account:

@RepHartzler @RepSamGraves We urge you to oppose HR 5199, a bill that would use Impact Aid to fund private school vouchers & undermine military students’ educational opportunities #SupportMilFamilies #NoVouchers

Please be sure to tag the member or members of Congress from your state who are on the House Armed Services Committee in this tweet. You can find a full list of these members and their twitter handles in the attached Excel spreadsheet. These tweets are directed towards key members of Congress who are on the House Armed Services Committee, the committee that is considering this bill.

If you are unable to post this tweet on May 2, please try to tweet it out sometime this week or early next week if possible. Please let me know if you have any questions or need any additional information.

Thank you,

Hannah Engle | Government Affairs Coordinator
National PTA®
Office: (703) 518-1262 | Cell: (301) 910-4637
[email protected] | www.pta.org

JC/DC ACTION ALERT: Urge Your Members of Congress to Keep Our Children and Our Schools Safe from Gun Violence!

From National PTA:

Send a letter to your members of Congress urging them to support legislation that would keep our children and our schools safe from gun violence! Personalize the letter in the link below and make your voice heard on this important issue!

Send a letter to your member of Congress

JC/DC Alert MO PTA Opposes SB 617

**This bill is up for a full Senate vote contact your Senator NOW****

After only 30 minutes of debate, yesterday the Missouri Senate gave preliminary approval for a tax bill that will give big cuts to the wealthy and corporations and leave our communities without the resources they need to prosper.

The Senate acted without an estimate of the bill’s fiscal impact. However, the Missouri Budget Project’s initial estimate is that the legislation will cost the state more than $500 million, and possibly as much as $800 million.

The net effect of SB 617 would cut $464 million from state general revenue in 2019 while SB 611 would reduce state revenue by more than $1 billion. In context, $462 million is the equivalent of 50% of state general revenue funding for mental health. It is more than Missouri spends in general revenue on all early education and child care services combined.
In addition, SB 617 would eliminate the individual income tax over time, increasing its cost each year and eventually resulting in an annual cut of $6.6 billion.Individual income tax currently provides $6.6 billion to support the FY 2018 budget, or 36% of all state-source funding (not including federal funds). There would simply be no way for Missouri to compensate for the loss of revenue.
This bill would place Missouri on a fiscal path that would make Kansas’ recent experience with tax cuts look like a cake walk.
This bill would provide large tax cuts to wealthy Missourians, at the expense of everyone else.SB 617 would give Missourians with average incomes of $1.387 million a tax cut of $11,096 in 2019, while most working Missourians would see little impact or even tax increases. In fact, an analysis by the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy found that 91% of the tax cut would flow to the wealthiest 20% of Missourians.
As in the Kansas experience, Missouri would have little alternative but to move toward regressive consumption taxes (sales tax), increasing the burden on working Missourians.

Dear Senator,

In the current fiscal year, the tax is budgeted to reduce $464 million for the general revenue budget. These cuts would come at a time when Missouri is already struggling to meet its budget needs due to previously enacted tax changes, and would require additional and steep cuts to services including education.

There are a few districts in Missouri that will be better able to adjust to such a loss in income. However, what about the districts that cannot? There are several districts that already have cut music and extra curricular activities out of their budget. They already have had to lay off support staff and may have to eventually lay off ^[i]teachers. How are those schools going to be competitive with the schools that are better able to make up for decrease in funding? We have seen several schools across Missouri lose accreditation and the fall out of students moving to other districts. The further lack of funds that the loss of income tax would create a greater disparity between school districts. This will severely impair how students can be accepted into colleges and how schools will be able to attract quality staff.

Sincerely,

Your Name

PTA Unit

Not sure how to contact your state legislators? Click here and insert your street address or 9-digit zip code.

Carla Wiese

VP and Director of Legislation and Advocacy

[email protected]