Star: Schweich's Punt Is "Not Going to Cut It"
The Star is right on with this bit from their weekly Capitol Watch editorial:
Missouri’s auditor: Who me?
The Missouri Constitution gives the state auditor an assignment: In 50 words or less, explain the fiscal impact of a statewide ballot initiative.
St. Louis multimillionaire Rex Sinquefield has put into motion nine petitions seeking a constitutional amendment to eliminate the state income tax and replace it with a greatly increased sales tax. And so it fell to the new Missouri auditor, Tom Schweich, to calculate the impact.
Except he didn’t.
“The total cost, savings and/or change in tax revenue to state and local governmental entities cannot be determined,” Schweich wrote, adding that legislative actions yet to come and impossible-to-predict consumer spending patterns could throw off any projection.
Sorry, but that’s not going to cut it.
Schweich’s backers promoted him in his recent campaign as the smartest guy in the room. Surely he is capable of sorting through the various projections already calculated by other analysts and giving an informed opinion.
In Missouri, the auditor’s fiscal notes are often challenged in court. That’s probably going to be the case with Schweich’s non-fiscal note. But he passed up a chance to add a strong, informed voice on this controversial issue.
