Senate takes up capital-gains repeal as senators warn of hundreds of millions in lost revenue

The Missouri Senate on March 31 moved House committee substitute for House Bills 594 and 508 to the floor for third reading, launching an extended debate over a proposal to eliminate the state's capital-gains tax.

The motion to take up the substitute was offered by the senator from the twentieth and approved by the Senate. The senator from the twentieth described the measure on the floor as "a clean substitute" intended to provide a working text for negotiation and final votes.

Why it matters: Senators on both sides said the change would reduce general-revenue receipts by hundreds of millions of dollars a year and that those cuts would compete directly with funding priorities such as the foundation formula for public schools, services for Missourians with developmental disabilities and other state obligations. Several senators urged further negotiation or additional offsets before final passage.

Sponsor and substitute: The senator from the twentieth told colleagues the substitute was "substantively the same as the underlying bill" and described the circulating text as technical adjustments to the original language. The sponsor moved for a waiver of…