Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is taking some Friday heat for his end-of-the-news conference answer Thursday about the big tax cut in Kansas.
Is Nixon worried, Barb Shelley asked, about the lower tax rate in Kansas following the recent legislative session?
His answer:
"Their sales tax is still higher than ours, isn't it? Buy things in Missouri, that's what I'd say."
Reporter: I'm not sure that's true in the Kansas City area.
Nixon: "I'm not sure, there's some local...it gets complicated with the local jurisdictions."
Reporter: But has this been discussed by your administration? Does it give them any kind of competitive business advantage?
Nixon: "I've held the line on taxes as governor. We have a taxation system that has been fair. We've targeted, when we want to do something on relieving the burden, pretty specifically, Rep. Nolte mentioned one. We also now are phasing out the franchise tax, which was in essence a double taxation on businesses...
"We've held the line on taxes. We balanced our budget. We kept our triple A credit rating. I think it's really important. I'm not an expert on the Kansas budget or the Kansas fiscal stuff. So we haven't spent a great deal of time talking about what they've done. I'm certainly cognizant of it, I don't mean to sound not aware of what they've done.
"Our plan has always been to hold the line on taxes, balance our budget, if we have tax cuts make them targeted to make a good impact...As far as the overall Kansas plan, I wouldn't want to critique the Sunflower State's fiscal policy. They elected a governor, that's his job. I'm not a commentator on other states unless we're dealing with athletic contests. Then I'm ready to talk.
"Thank you very much."
From Lloyd Smith, executive director of the Missouri GOP:
“Jay Nixon promised to fight for every job, every time. But as governor, he has constantly remained on the sidelines—watching as businesses flee Missouri to states like Kansas. Now, as recently-enacted reforms in Kansas threaten to devastate our state’s already-stalled economy, it is clear that Jay Nixon has no plan to save Missouri jobs or protect our job creators.”
