Sales tax increase possible if business taxes get slashed

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Intro:	Several Missouri business groups are pushing lawmakers to cut their taxes. And Missouri shoppers could be the ones making up the cost.
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Wrap: The businesses say Missouri has cut its taxes to compete with Kansas, which recently made business income tax-free.

But those tax cuts have Kansas facing a budget deficit of about $200 million for next year. And that fact has some Missouri lawmakers pumping the brakes about enacting big tax cuts here.

St. Louis County Republican Sen. John Lamping says there is one way that Kansas can close its budget hole.

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Description: "The only way you're going to go to zero income taxes is raise sales taxes. That's what they're going to do."

Several lawmakers have said Missouri's income tax could be raised to make up for the lost revenue from lower business taxes.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Wes Duplantier. Newsradio 1120 KMOX.

Intro:	Republicans in the Missouri Senate want to cut taxes to help jumpstart the state's economy. But they're still trying to answer one big question: How do you pay for that?
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Wrap: Missouri's Constitution requires that its budget be balanced each year.

But several business groups are pushing lawmakers to pass a bill that would cut taxes for Missouri business owners by more than $50 million each year.

That money has to come from somewhere.

Democratic Sen. Paul LeVota, of Independence, said he thinks most lawmakers want to have low taxes and a balanced state budget. But, he said:

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Description: "Where we get into the disagreement is, should we make tax policy that is revenue-neutral, that brings in more, that cuts more and how do we pay for the obligations that we already have? Maybe, should we even have those obligations?

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Wes Duplantier. Newsradio 1120 KMOX.

Intro:	Business owners in the state are pushing lawmakers to cut their taxes and they say its the only way Missouri can keep up with its neighbors.
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Wrap: Several business groups are backing a bill that would cut taxes for Missouri business owners by more than $50 million each year.

That could punch a hole in revenues for the state budget. But border state Kansas has just made business income tax-free. And business lobbyists like Ray McCarty of Associated Industries of Missouri are telling lawmakers that Missouri has to make a move.

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Description: "We have to do something, though. If we do nothing, we're looking at, particularly in the Kansas City area but also in Joplin and other areas up and down the border of the state, we're looking that are probably the higher-growth, higher-income."

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Wes Duplantier. Newsradio 1120 KMOX.