Editorial: Lawmakers should consider tax legislation before cutting education funding

Published Dec. 7, 2010

It's no mystery: The nation's economic crisis has led to some tough budget decisions across the country, and the state of Missouri is not exempt. The UM system and MU have been somewhat protected from the drastic budget cuts the state has been making across the board the past couple of years due to a tuition freeze agreement with Gov. Jay Nixon, but other departments can only bleed for so long.

The UM system has become a sitting duck, and it's hunting season in Jefferson City.

The state's budget shortfall stands at $604 million, and state legislators will likely turn to higher education’s budget with machete in hand to help close the gap — metaphorically speaking, of course. After remaining safe from the rest of the state's budget cuts, our university and Missouri higher education as a whole is set up to be screwed over by the state in the coming year.

Bu† there are alternatives: State Rep. Mary Still, D-Columbia, will be proposing three bills this week in Jefferson City that will allegedly reduce the state's deficit by up to $229 million.

One of the three bills, called the "Main Street Protection Act", would create provisions in the state's tax code that would collect (presently) lost taxes from sales made on the Internet. It is expected this act would generate $160 million in tax revenue, which is a massive chunk of the state's budget. Other states have begun to collect these taxes and are generating millions of dollars to help pull state's budgets out of the economic crisis.

Missouri lawmakers have been ignoring this easy, untaxed source of income that could very well save higher education in our state down the road.

Another bill would increase the tax on cigarettes in Missouri from 17 cents per pack to 33 cents, an increase of 12 cents. Missouri's tax on cigarettes is the lowest in the country, and an increase of 12 cents will only elevate Missouri's status as the second-lowest cigarette tax in the country. Virginia taxes at 30 cents a pack, and, odds are, Missouri revenue won't be lost by smokers driving to Virginia to save 3 cents on a pack of cigs. This increase would generate around an additional $68 million in state revenue.

The last bill would restructure the Missouri income tax brackets, which, as of 2010, haven't been updated since 1931. That's right; Missouri's income tax brackets haven't been changed since President Herbert Hoover was in office — since a pre-WWII world, since there were only 48 states in the Union. The result? Missourians making $9,000 a year pay the same tax rate as those making millions.

But because politics can be generally defined as doing pointless, absurd crap over and over again, none of this is likely to pass. In the past, the majority party in Jefferson City has kept this bill in committee and never talked about it or brought it to a vote on the floor. The same is expected for the coming year.

And that is some straight bullshit. Here we are, passing up hundreds of millions of tax revenue for the sake of essentially protecting the rich of Missouri. Yes, politicians are wary of supporting raises in taxes, but at the same time, who wants to be the politician that puts a heavier burden on Missouri families already struggling to send their children to college? Ignoring these bills means disaster for MU. Departmental cuts and tuition hike, reminiscent of those in California two years ago are only some of the nightmares that could come to be if this legislation is ignored yet again.

What it comes down to is weighing long term cost and gain. Yes, taxes will go up for a while, but it's worth continued funding of the state educational system. Contrary to constituent demand, it's literally impossible for a state to give more money to educational system without taxing more. It's not even simple enough to be economics — it's common sense. Money doesn't grow on trees.

We urge the Associated Students of the University of Missouri to take a stance on this issue, as it is their job to protect the interests of MU students in Jefferson City.

We also urge all MU students to write to their hometown representatives in Jefferson City. A massive influx of letters to our representatives will not only emphasize our political power as constituents, but also show our politicians that MU students are a powerful, unified force that transcends any political party. We are going to school to get an education in order to make our state and country even better when our time comes to take the reins, and our noble politicians are jeopardizing it all.

At MU, we have students from every county in Missouri, and it's time for us to use our English 1000 skills and tell our representatives what's best for our education, our families and our state.