3-26-2026
🏛️ March 26 - Issue of the Week: The “Everything Tax Bill”
Summary
The Speaker of the Missouri House is sponsoring HJR 174, or the “Everything Tax Bill”, a disastrous constitutional amendment. I strongly oppose this legislation, and I am frustrated that it is being sold to voters as a tax cut, since for most Missourians it would function as a tax increase. The proposal would fundamentally shift our tax structure, expanding taxes while lacking clear guardrails and giving lawmakers and lobbyists the power to set rates without voter approval.
What the Proposal Does
Shifts the tax burden from the wealthiest among us to the rest of us by:
Eliminating all income tax from state revenue and gutting essential services including health and childcare.
Raising existing taxes while creating completely new taxes for everyday goods and services.
Creating new administrative and cost burdens on all businesses and who would have to now collect taxes for services in Missouri.
Transferring future tax decisions from voters to the hands of the legislators and lobbyists - ensuring lobbyists have the strongest voice determining tax policy going forward
Key Concerns
Creates Higher Everyday Costs and Bureaucratic Burdens on Business
Beyond the obvious new and higher sales taxes, the added administrative burden of the new sales taxes will force businesses to increase the costs of their goods and services, including health care and childcare, and they will have to pass this onto consumers. Navigating the extra bureaucracy will be a nightmare for individuals as well.
Hits Working Families Hardest
Taxing these essential goods and services will mean most of us will be paying far more in taxes than we do now. The greater the percentage of your budget that goes for mandatory expenses- home maintenance, health care, childcare, daily needs- the more your taxes will go up as a percentage of your income.
Undercuts School and Public Service Funding Putting Communities at Risk
Even with the extra bureaucratic and cost burdens, the funding gap for our most necessary services, especially public education, will be gutted. Without public education, our economy cannot grow for most of us. Our safety net for seniors will continue to erode and families will have to carry that burden. Even our parks, streams, and hunting grounds will be affected- damaging our health and also some of our critical economic engines.
Establishes No Clear Safeguards to Avoid More Chaos
For something this big, “we’ll adjust later” isn’t a plan. There are no defined triggers or protections when the plan falls short. If passed, the newly enshrined law will leave it up to the lobbyists to determine how they want their concerns to be resolved and leave voters with relatively little power to make things better.
A Better Path Forward
Keep It Balanced
Missourians are practical people-and we know a combination of tax policy makes the most sense. Fair Income-Tax structures ensure that taxpayers each pay what they can afford for basic, necessary services. Fair Sales-Tax structures support targeted community projects. Property Taxes fund our local community’s needs. Cutting off one of the legs to this three-legged stool is unfair and potentially catastrophic for the state.
Target Real Relief
Thoughtful tax policy should reflect our values and include all Missourians. Most people are willing to pay for what matters—strong schools, clean water and air, reliable energy, and effective public services, including first responders. The focus should be on real relief—lowering everyday costs and strengthening the services families depend on.
Set Clear Rules First
The voters of Missouri, not lobbyists, should determine tax policy. We send our representatives to Jefferson City to be practical, fair, and realistic. We need our tax code to reflect our values and be flexible when needs and times change.
Conclusion
The current leadership in the State Legislature seems to be putting us in a race to the bottom. We don’t deserve this kind of leadership. As a small businessman, a father, and a community volunteer, I believe I can do better for you. I hope you will give me a chance and grant me your vote.