Missouri State Representative Will Kraus wrote on his March 3rd that, “This past week house bill 82, which I filed to help retired military personnel, made it through the Committee on Rules and was perfected and printed in last night’s session. It will most like be third read and passed and voted out of the Missouri House of Representatives this Thursday.

House bill 82 will allow retired military personnel to deduct their military retirement benefits from their Missouri state income taxes. This is legislation that will encourage retired military members to either continue living in Missouri, or to move here.”

In this age of spend, tax, tax and spend it is good to see that our district’s representative in Jeff City is taking to heart the conservative mantra of less government and less taxes. This is just an example of the great efforts by Representative Kraus.

Rep. Will Kraus continues with a very legitimate warning: “Republican leaders have expressed great concern with many parts of the Stimulus Package. I assure you, using caution for this is a good thing. Too many people want to label it as free money and criticize anyone who wants to carefully and responsibly approach the bill in detail. It is important to realize, there are legitimate red flags that come along with these dollars.”

He sites some very valid examples, such as: “For example, this week we learned our state will receive federal dollars if we modify our current unemployment compensation laws. This would involve extending benefit periods and opening benefits to individuals not eligible under current law. While the one-time dollars could allow for it this year, we won’t see those extra dollars in the future. When the federal dollars run out, it falls back on Missouri foot the bill, meaning we would have to raise taxes on businesses in order to afford the federal program next year and the next. I do not want to use a single allocation of money to create an annual budget item. This is the same set of circumstances that got Governor Holden into the situation that caused him to withhold $200 million from our public schools, and is bad policy.” So if he can figure this out, how come the big brains in Washington can’t? That’s the key up there in the underline. President Obama is trying to fundamentally change State Politics by bribing the state with a one time infusion of money, and then leaving the changes behind as an un-funded mandate.

I say, thank Will Kraus, please keep fighting for Missouri’s tax dollars.

Respectfully submitted
The Lee’s Summit Conservative