Post-Dispatch Supports Difficult Decisions, Not “Cherry-Picking”

Even though the Tax Credit Review Commission has delivered its final recommendations, the debate about the appropriateness of targeted tax credits seems far from over. The editorial board of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has recently made arguments that I want to highlight on this blog.

In an editorial published on Sunday, they argued that the governor and the legislature should give serious consideration to the recommendations of the Tax Credit Review Commission. They wrote:

The commission’s work seeks to balance competing interests. Some lawmakers will be tempted to cherry-pick their recommendations to make deeper budget cuts. But that would undermine the fairness, effectiveness and credibility of the commission’s work. Many of the recommendations have compensating and overlapping effects that make sense only when considered as a package.

Then, in a piece from Tuesday, the editorial board continued to communicate the message that the governor “needs to get serious about tax credit reform.” They wrote:

Educators should remember the circuit breaker tax credit the next time Mr. Nixon asks them to appear at a dog-and-pony show.

Missourians also should keep it in mind when considering whether the governor has gotten serious about tax credit reform.

This is exactly the point that I communicated in a post published on Monday here on Show-Me Daily. The authors even referenced the Circuit Breaker Tax Credit and included citations to the governor’s opening remarks to the committee (i.e., “fact-based recommendations for change”), just as I did in my own post.