Jefferson City – The Missouri Senate Committee on Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics will hear before it the Taxation With Representation Act (Senate Bill 1) on Tuesday, Jan. 24. The hearing will be held at 9 a.m. in the Senate Lounge.
State Senator Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, the sponsor of SB 1, will testify at the hearing alongside other supporters of the bill. One supporter expected to testify is Paul DeGregorio, former chair of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and former St. Louis County Director of Elections. Another supporter is Morris Pearl who is the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of 200 high-net-worth Americans who are committed to building a more prosperous, stable and inclusive nation. Also testifying will be several grassroots Missourians and a representative of MAYDAY America, a national organization that works to fight corruption by electing reformers to all levels of our democracy.
Representatives of the Brennan Center for Justice have already submitted written testimony, available online at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B75zK74tBwyULWxmWVhEbTRjOHM/view.
Also, Dr. Richard Painter, former chief ethics counsel to the White House under President George W. Bush, has submitted written testimony, available online at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gUCjpEvsx_ML85rnOKjMeXqszela23ZgWz5tihwwgjQ/edit?usp=sharing.
The Taxation with Representation Act is intended to make the politics of Missouri’s capital more accountable to Missouri citizens, empowering grassroots Missourians to play a greater role in the funding of political campaigns. It would let each Missourian subtract up to $100 per year from their state income taxes, letting them claim a dollar-per-dollar credit for donations to county-level party committees and to candidates for state representative, state senator and statewide office.