Show-Me Institute Joins Anti Medical Tax Crowd October 14, 2013

The conservative Show-Me institute is the latest group to come out against the Jackson County medical Research tax.
The Institute published an opinion piece Monday , the institute called it “an egregious misuse of the taxing authority,”.
Co-author Patrick Ishmael told KMBC TV News the measure doe not meet the public purpose threshold of the Missouri Constitution.
“Law firms, construction companies, and just about every other type of business provide a level of public service. Where do you draw the line on which businesses to subsidize with taxes?”
Ishmael writes “the line needs to be drawn somewhere, and this is a good place to start”.
The proposed tax would raise the county sales tax by ½ cent. Boosters say it will generate $800 million over 20 years.
The money is intended to attract cutting edge medical researchers her to a research institution in connection with several Jackson County hospitals.
A couple of other Kansas City political players have recently announced their opposition to the medical Research Sales Tax.
Over the weekend, the Kansas City Star, citing the regressive nature of the sales tax, which is not based on one’s ability to pay, came out against the plan.
Last week, Kansas City’s Citizens Association also announced its objection.
Monday, however, Jackson County Legislator James Tindall announced he supports the medical research tax plan.

Update: Missouri & Kansas Spend $200 Million Shuffling Jobs in Border War February 8, 2013

Business executive Bill Hall told a Missouri House Committee Friday Missouri and Kansas have spent millions tugging business back and forth across the state line and have no created any new jobs in the process.
He said the total of the tax incentives offered by both states to Kansas City area is $200 “for no new jobs in the community”
Hall also warned that the Border War is ‘intense and escalating”.
Kansas Governor Sam Bronwback has offered another round of tax cuts for the Sunflower State lawmakers to consider this session. Kansas enacted one of the biggest tax cuts in the state’s history in 2012.
Hall repeated an earlier statistic; that after the tug of war between the two states, Kansas has gained 595 jobs at a costof $323,000 per net existing job.
Tax reform is a major issue for the House Republican majority this year. House Seaker Tim Jones attended the session at Kansas City’s Union Station, but he said little during the two-hour hearing.
Another indicator of the potential importance, is the fact that the lawmakers held a rare out-of-the-state-capitol-hearing in the midst of their session. Fridays are normally considered days off for the legislators.
Lawyer Woody Cozad has been pushing for Missouri to drop its tax rates to meet the Kansas competition.
He told the committee the state of Tennessee has passed Missouri because of its low tax approach to attracting business.
Patrick Ishmael of the Show Me Institute testified lower tax rates are better than tax incentives.
Earlier in the day, Kansas City-Mayor Sly James defended Kansas City and the Missouri side economies during a Committee hearing today.
Missouri lawmakers came to Kansas City to hear of the business poaching Border War. Kansas City and the state of Kansas have been battling over moving businesses back and forth across the state line. ” We are not afraid of Kansas,” James declared, “They don’t scare us”.
He called a series of personal and business tax cuts enacted in Kansas, “a bauble”, that may or may not work.
He said the bauble is, “cut all taxes and they will come”.
James pushed hard for state lawmakers to approve a new tax credit designed to attract new companies to the state
He also admitted the city’s main liability in the Border War may be education
The Kansas City,Missouri school district is one of 14 school systems in the city limits. The turmoil and controversy of a lack of accreditation and potential of a state takeover in that district often steers new residents away from the city James observed. He urged the law makers to pay attention to education policy.
James says ” education is the biggest economic development tool we have that we pay the least amount if attention to”.