Kansas Cuts Taxes To Counter Missouri

Healthy competition!

Attempting to keep pace with tax-cutting Kansas, Missouri senators endorsed a plan Wednesday to shave hundreds of millions of dollars off the income tax bills of businesses and residents. But the tradeoff could be higher taxes for shopping at stores and online.

The legislation given preliminary approval by the Republican-led Senate could mark Missouri's most significant overhaul of its tax policies in a couple of decades.

Republicans expressed hope that it would spur an economic revival — or at least keep businesses and residents from being lured across the state's western border by the siren call of lower taxes. Yet some Democrats called it "irresponsible," noting that Kansas now faces a budget gap as a result of sweeping tax cuts that kicked in this year.