JEFFERSON CITY – Pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) and several other charitable entities will benefit from tax credits if a proposed bill continues to smoothly make its way through the legislative process.
House Bill 87 (HB 87), sponsored by Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Springfield, won 149-2 approval Feb. 7 in the House of Representatives and was sent to the Senate. The bill would allow taxpayers to claim credits against their state income taxes for contributions they make to those organizations.
HB 87 would reinstate tax credit provisions which were allowed to lapse in 2012. A companion bill sponsored by Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, has been introduced in the Senate. Charitable organizations touched by the lapse have seen donations sharply decrease.
Burlison believes government should not take taxes in a way where helping charitable causes is harmed.
“What they (the PRCs) are doing is God’s work,” Burlison said. “Our country has lost an entire generation of children, almost worse than the number of the Holocaust …almost 50 million.
“It is a positive thing they are doing. They have people there who let [expectant mothers] know they are loved by the community, that God cares for them and the new child.”