By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – The Missouri Secretary of State's office Tuesday gave the go-ahead to a state lobbying group that may try to put a sales tax proposal on the August ballot.
This means only that the Missouri Policy Group can start collecting the necessary signatures.
Their plan calls for an automatic hike in the state sales tax to fund education and health care if revenues fall below 2001 levels.
The Policy Group's Doug Burnett says his fellow lobbyists will look at campaign funding and public opinion before they decide whether to circulate a petition.
"There are many more steps to be taken," Burnett said. "We'll be looking at these issues in the next week to determine what the next step will be."
Missouri Republicans say changes to the state tax system should be addressed first.
Missouri's base sales tax rate is 4.225 percent.
The Missouri Policy Group last year backed the failed tobacco tax initiative.