Missouri voters reject income tax proposal after bishops warned of its effects on ‘most vulnerable’

Voters in Missouri overwhelmingly rejected a proposal this week that would have eliminated the state’s income tax, a measure the Missouri Catholic bishops had warned could adversely impact the state’s poorest residents.

Results from the Missouri Secretary of State’s office on Aug. 5 showed 83% of voters rejecting Amendment 5, which if passed would have reduced and eventually eliminated Missouri’s income tax while allowing lawmakers to expand sales taxes.

Missouri’s four Catholic bishops in July had urged voters to consider “the moral principles that should guide us in pondering any tax proposal.” They had warned that the “most vulnerable” of the state’s residents could face undue burdens if sales taxes increased there.

The bishops had acknowledged that supporters of the income tax repeal had “a sincere desire to promote the long-term prosperity” of Missouri. But such aims should be “weighed alongside the potential effects on those who are most vulnerable,” they said.

The measure had been touted by state Republicans including Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Catholic, who said after the ruling’s defeat that the measure’s advocates “made the case that Missouri should think boldly about…