No Income Tax States

Do you prefer to pay income taxes or sales taxes? Missouri voters will get to choose in a unique ballot question later this year. A proposed constitutional amendment will give people the option of gradually eliminating the individual income tax in exchange for the possibility that lawmakers could expand the sales tax to more services. This marks the first time a U.S. state legislature has asked voters to make such a choice. Kentucky, Mississippi and Oklahoma also recently passed laws that could phase out their income tax if revenue benchmarks are met. But those didn't go to voters.

President Donald Trump's efforts to reshape U.S. House districts have seen mixed outcomes. South Carolina senators defied his push Tuesday, while Missouri's top court upheld a new map backed by Trump that could benefit Republicans in the midterm elections. The national redistricting battle has been raging for 10 months. But it became more intense after the U.S. Supreme Court recently weakened the federal Voting Rights Act. The ruling has led Republicans in states such as Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama to push for new districts. South Carolina senators expressed concerns that redistricting could backfire, resulting in losses to Democrats.