Missouri residents may soon pay a flat 4% state income tax, under a plan advanced by Republican lawmakers who want to eventually eliminate the tax. At the same time, the GOP proposal would give the General Assembly the power to impose sales taxes on an array of previously untaxed services – everything from massages to furnace maintenance.

For the first time since 2018, Missouri lawmakers will work with a new governor. While outgoing Gov. Mike Parson pushed a more budget-focused agenda, Gov.-elect Mike Kehoe already has established policy goals — and a Republican supermajority to accomplish them with.

The 103rd Missouri General Assembly gathered at the Capitol in Jefferson City on Wednesday to kick off the 2025 legislative session. Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers highlighted similar needs in the House of Representatives: a focus on taxation in a year with decreasing revenues,

Republican factional fights are nothing new in the Missouri General Assembly. But what is new this year is the venue — the House of Representatives, where a sophomore lawmaker accusing his colleagues of corrupt politics seeks to upset the usually routine election of a speaker.

As lawmakers prepare for Wednesday’s first day of the legislative session, Republicans and Democrats want to lessen Missourians’ financial burden. Both parties think tax cuts could be a solution, but they can’t agree on which taxes to cut.