Since the late 1990s, Missouri’s tax credit system has grown into one of the biggest burdens on the state’s annual budgets, expending billions of dollars over the last decade and setting the stage for significant budgetary crises in the near future. In fiscal year 2013, Missouri expects tax credit redemptions to cost the state as much as the state is spending on its correctional and public safety systems — roughly $700 million. Put in another context, the entirety of 2013’s projected deficit is less than the state’s expected tax credit payout by about $200 million. Suffice to say, this is real money that legislators will have to understand and grapple with, given the squeeze tax credits have put on the FY2013 budget and will put on state budgets in future years.

Full Testimony (PDF)