House Speaker Tim Jones (Photo: House Communications)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – House Speaker Tim Jones said the pace of the General Assembly is moving quickly this year as lawmakers began to dive into their second year of the 97th General Assembly.
Speaking during his near-weekly news conference with reporters, Jones said the House has already acknowledged more than 160 bills and referred more than a dozen to committee.
“The House is hitting the ground running,” he said. “There are no freshmen this year so things are moving fast.”
Jones listed five priority bills for the body’s first week in session, including ‘right-to-work’ (HB 1099), legislation to authorize new tax credits for port facilities (HB 1091), a bill to allow members of the armed forces to file for office through a surrogate (HB 1125), a bill that would provide abortion alternatives agencies to “freely engage in activities without interference” (HB 1103), and a potential constitutional amendment that would allow active-duty military personnel members a property tax exemption (HJR 51).
On ‘right-to-work,’ which faced its first committee hearing on Monday, Jones recommitted to the idea that the bill will move through his chamber this session, and he expects it would earn support from Republicans if brought up in the Senate.
“Ron Richard has been a huge proponent of worker freedom and choice,” he said. “There’s been a number of bills filed. I’ve told our chairman to be sure that all sides have an opportunity to weigh in on this issue.”
Tax cuts
On Monday, House Democrats announced a tax cut proposal to compete with Republican-backed bills like House Bill 253 debated in the body last fall. The Democratic-backed plan would lower the income tax rate for individuals earning less than $30,000 a year, keep it at 6 percent for those making between $30,000 and $300,000, and raise the rate to 8 percent for those making more than $300,000.
Jones said that while he agreed with Democrats on the idea of cutting taxes, he was opposed to raising taxes on higher-earners – the Democrats proposal to keep their plan revenue neutral.
“When you unfairly tax job creators and employers, you harm workers and the overall economy,” he said, noting that Republicans would continue to support tax cuts like the one they supported last year, which provided fractional relief to most earners while slashing taxes for businesses.