Read the full stored bill text
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE JOINT
RESOLUTION NO. 131
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE MA YHEW .
5095H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
JOINT RESOLUTION
Submitting to the qualified voters of Missouri an amendment repealing Sections 6, 17, 18,
and 18(e) of Article X of the Constitution of Missouri, and adopting five new sections
in lieu thereof relating to taxation.
Be it r esolved by the House of Repr esentatives, the Senate concurring ther ein:
That at the next general election to be held in the state of Missouri, on T uesday next
2 following the first Monday in November , 2026, or at a special election to be called by the
3 governor for that purpose, there is hereby submitted to the qualified voters of this state, for
4 adoption or rejection, the following amendment to Article X of the Constitution of the state of
5 Missouri:
Section A. Sections 6, 17, 18, and 18(e), Article X, Constitution of Missouri, are
2 repealed and five new sections adopted in lieu thereof, to be known as Sections 6, 17, 18, 18
3 (e), and 27, to read as follows:
Section 6. 1. All property , real and personal, of the state, counties and other political
2 subdivisions, and nonprofit cemeteries, and all real property used as a homestead as defined
3 by law of any citizen of this state who is a former prisoner of war , as defined by law , and who
4 has a total service-connected disability , shall be exempt from taxation; all personal property
5 held as industrial inventories, including raw materials, work in progress and finished work on
6 hand, by manufacturers and refiners, and all personal property held as goods, wares,
7 merchandise, stock in trade or inventory for resale by distributors, wholesalers, or retail
8 merchants or establishments shall be exempt from taxation; and all property , real and
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
9 personal, not held for private or corporate profit and used exclusively for religious worship,
10 for schools and colleges, for purposes purely charitable, for agricultural and horticultural
11 societies, or for veterans' or ganizations may be exempted from taxation by general law . In
12 addition to the above, household goods, furniture, wearing apparel and articles of personal use
13 and adornment owned and used by a person in his home or dwelling place may be exempt
14 from taxation by general law but any such law may provide for approximate restitution to the
15 respective political subdivisions of revenues lost by reason of the exemption. All laws
16 exempting from taxation property other than the property enumerated in this article, shall be
17 void. The provisions of this section exempting certain personal property of manufacturers,
18 refiners, distributors, wholesalers, and retail merchants and establishments from taxation shall
19 become ef fective, unless otherwise provided by law , in each county on January 1 of the year
20 in which that county completes its first general reassessment as defined by law .
21 2. All revenues lost because of the exemption of certain personal property of
22 manufacturers, refiners, distributors, wholesalers, and retail merchants and establishments
23 shall be replaced to each taxing authority within a county from a countywide tax hereby
24 imposed on all property in subclass 3 of class 1 in each county . For the year in which the
25 exemption becomes ef fective, the county clerk shall calculate the total revenue lost by all
26 taxing authorities in the county and extend upon all property in subclass 3 of class 1 within
27 the county , a tax at the rate necessary to produce that amount. The rate of tax levied in each
28 county according to this subsection shall not be increased above the rate first imposed and
29 will stand levied at that rate unless later reduced according to the provisions of subsection 3.
30 The county collector shall disburse the proceeds according to the revenue lost by each taxing
31 authority because of the exemption of such property in that county . Restitution of the
32 revenues lost by any taxing district contained in more than one county shall be from the
33 several counties according to the revenue lost because of the exemption of property in each
34 county . Each year after the first year the replacement tax is imposed, the amount distributed
35 to each taxing authority in a county shall be increased or decreased by an amount equal to the
36 amount resulting from the change in that district's total assessed value of property in subclass
37 3 of class 1 at the countywide replacement tax rate. In order to implement the provisions of
38 this subsection, the limits set in section 1 1(b) of this article may be exceeded, without voter
39 approval, if necessary to allow each county listed in section 1 1(b) to comply with this
40 subsection.
41 3. Any increase in the tax rate imposed pursuant to subsection 2 of this section shall
42 be decreased if such decrease is approved by a majority of the voters of the county voting on
43 such decrease or by the elected governing body of the county as pro vided by the rules
44 and pro cedure s of such county . The prov isions of section 22 of this article shall apply to
45 the tax levy imposed under subsection 2 of this section . A decrease in the increased tax
HJR 131 2
46 rate imposed under subsection 2 of this section may be submitted to the voters of a county by
47 the governing body thereof upon its own order , ordinance, or resolution and shall be
48 submitted upon the petition of at least eight percent of the qualified voters who voted in the
49 immediately preceding gubernatorial election.
50 4. As used in this section, the terms "revenues lost" and "lost revenues" shall mean
51 that revenue which each taxing authority received from the imposition of a tangible personal
52 property tax on all personal property held as industrial inventories, including raw materials,
53 work in progress and finished work on hand, by manufacturers and refiners, and all personal
54 property held as goods, wares, merchandise, stock in trade or inventory for resale by
55 distributors, wholesalers, or retail merchants or establishments in the last full tax year
56 immediately preceding the ef fective date of the exemption from taxation granted for such
57 property under subsection 1 of this section, and which was no longer received after such
58 exemption became effectiv e.
Section 17. As used in sections 16 through 24 of Article X:
2 (1) "T otal state revenues" includes all general and special revenues, license and fees,
3 excluding federal funds, as defined in the budget message of the governor [ for fiscal year
4 1980-1981 ]. T otal state revenues shall exclude the amount of any credits based on actual tax
5 liabilities or the imputed tax components of rental payments, but shall include the amount of
6 any credits not related to actual tax liabilities.
7 (2) "Personal income of Missouri" is the total income received by persons in Missouri
8 from all sources, as defined and of ficially reported by the United States Department of
9 Commerce or its successor agency .
10 (3) "General price level" means the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers
11 for the United States, or its successor publications, as defined and of ficially reported by the
12 United States Department of Labor , or its successor agency .
Section 18. (a) There is hereby established a limit on the total amount of taxes which
2 may be imposed by the general assembly in any fiscal year on the taxpayers of this state.
3 Ef fective with fiscal year [ 1981-1982 ] 2027-2028 , and for each fiscal year thereafter , the
4 general assembly shall not impose taxes of any kind which, together with all other revenues
5 of the state, federal funds excluded, exceed the revenue limit established in this section. The
6 revenue limit shall be calculated for each fiscal year and shall be equal to the product of the
7 ratio of total state revenues in the previ ous fiscal year [ 1980-1981 ] divided by the personal
8 income of Missouri in the calendar year [ 1979 ] prior to the pr evious fiscal year multiplied
9 by the personal income of Missouri in either the calendar year prior to the calendar year in
10 which appropriations for the fiscal year for which the calculation is being made, or the
11 average of personal income of Missouri in the previous three calendar years, whichever is
12 greater .
HJR 131 3
13 (b) For any fiscal year in the event that total state revenues exceed the revenue limit
14 established in this section by one percent or more, the excess revenues shall be refunded pro
15 rata based on the liability reported on the Missouri state income tax (or its successor tax or
16 taxes) annual returns filed following the close of such fiscal year . If the excess is less than
17 one percent, this excess shall be transferred to the general revenue fund.
18 (c) The revenue limitation established in this section shall not apply to taxes imposed
19 for the payment of principal and interest on bonds, approved by the voters and authorized
20 under the provisions of this constitution.
21 (d) If responsibility for funding a program or programs is transferred from one level
22 of government to another , as a consequence of constitutional amendment, the state revenue
23 and spending limits may be adjusted to accommodate such change, provided that the total
24 revenue authorized for collection by both state and local governments does not exceed that
25 amount which would have been authorized without such change.
Section 18(e). 1. In addition to the revenue limit imposed by section 18 of this article,
2 the general assembly in any fiscal year shall not increase taxes or fees without voter approval
3 that [ in total produce new annual ] incr ease total state revenues [ greater ] by mor e than either
4 fifty million dollars adjusted annually by the percentage change in the personal income of
5 Missouri for the second previous fiscal year , or one percent of total state revenues for the
6 second fiscal year prior to the general assembly's action, whichever is less. In the event that
7 an individual or series of tax or fee increases exceed the ceiling established in this subsection,
8 the taxes or fees shall be submitted by the general assembly to a public vote starting with the
9 lar gest increase in the given year , and including all increases in descending order , until the
10 aggregate of the remaining increases and decreases is less than the ceiling provided in this
11 subsection.
12 2. [ The term "new annual revenues" means the net increase in annual revenues
13 produced by the total of all tax or fee increases enacted by the general assembly in a fiscal
14 year , less applicable refunds and less all contemporaneously occurring tax or fee reductions in
15 that same fiscal year , and shall not include interest earnings on the proceeds of the tax or fee
16 increase. ] For purposes of this calculation, "enacted by the general assembly" shall include
17 any and all bills that are truly agreed to and finally passed within that fiscal year , except bills
18 vetoed by the governor and not overridden by the general assembly . Each individual tax or
19 fee increase shall be measured by the [ estimated new annual ] incr ease in total state revenues
20 collected during the first fiscal year [ that it is fully ef fective ] following enactment . The term
21 "increase taxes or fees" means any law or laws passed by the general assembly after the
22 ef fective date of this section that increase the rate of an existing tax or fee, impose a new tax
23 or fee, or broaden the scope of a tax or fee to include additional class of property , activity , or
24 income, but shall not include the extension of an existing tax or fee which was set to expire.
HJR 131 4
25 3. In the event of an emer gency , the general assembly may increase taxes, licenses or
26 fees for one year beyond the limit in this subsection under the same procedure specified in
27 section 19 of this article.
28 4. Compliance with the limit in this section shall be measured by calculating the
29 [ aggregate actual new annual ] incr ease in total state revenues produced by each individual
30 tax or fee change in the first fiscal year [ that each individual tax or fee change is fully
31 ef fective ] following enactment. If a tax or fee change is to be implemented over multiple
32 years, the incr ease in total state reven ues fr om the first fiscal year following enactment
33 shall be used to extrapolate the total incr ease in reven ues once fully implemented, and
34 this res ult shall be used for the compliance measur ement for the year the general
35 assembly appr oved the tax or fee incr ease .
36 5. Any taxpayer or statewide elected of ficial may bring an action under the provisions
37 of section 23 of this article to enforce compliance with the provisions of this section. The
38 Missouri supreme court shall have original jurisdiction to hear any challenge brought by any
39 statewide elected of ficial to enforce this section. In such enforcement actions, the court shall
40 invalidate the taxes and fees which should have received a public vote as defined in
41 subsection 1 of this section. The court shall order remedies of the amount of revenue
42 collected in excess of the limit in this subsection as the court finds appropriate in order to
43 allow such excess amounts to be refunded or to reduce taxes and/or fees in the future to of fset
44 the excess monies collected.
Section 27. 1. For the purposes of this section, a "tax incr ease" is any incr ease in
2 a tax rate or increa se in the persons or items subject to tax. However , the term "tax
3 incr ease" shall not include any change in the persons or items subject to tax because of a
4 change in, the cr eation of, or the elimination of a tax cr edit, deduction, subtraction, or
5 exemption.
6 2. No tax imposed by state statute or tax incr ease imposed by state statute shall
7 go into effect or continue in effect if otherwise set to expir e without prior appr oval at a
8 statewide general election, as defined by state law .
9 3. Notwithstanding any other pr ovision of this constitution, no state funds shall
10 be expended without first being appr opriated by the general assembly .
11 4. (1) Notwithstanding any other prov ision of this constitution to the contrary ,
12 the secr etary of state shall submit to the qualified voters of this state at the general
13 election held in 2028, or at a special election to be called by the governor for such
14 purpose, a question to terminate each tax imposed in this constitution.
15 (2) The question submitted shall be in the following form:
HJR 131 5
16 "Shall the taxes imposed in______ (list the Articles and Sections
17 imposing a tax) of this Constitution expir e?".
18 (3) If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the qualified voters voting
19 ther eon are in favor of the question, the listed taxes shall expir e at the end of the second
20 fiscal year after the election is held. If a majority of the votes cast on the question by the
21 qualified voters voting ther eon are opposed to the question, the listed taxes shall not
22 expir e and shall r emain effective unless and until the question is res ubmitted under this
23 subsection to the qualified voters of the state and such question is appr oved by a
24 majority of the qualified voters of the state voting on the question.
25 (4) If the question submitted under this subsection is rej ected by the qualified
26 voters, the secr etary of state shall res ubmit the question at the general election every
27 four years ther eafter until the termination of such taxes is appr oved as pr ovided in this
28 subsection.
✔
HJR 131 6