(Missourinet) – The chairman of a task force examining funding for Missouri’s transportation system is suggesting both a gasoline and diesel tax increase.

State Rep. Kevin Corlew, R-Kansas City, suggests a six to ten-cent gasoline tax increase, along with a seven to 12-cent diesel tax increase.

“In terms of an immediate impact investment yes, that’s something that could really boost our revenue and enable us to really help out our infrastructure system,” Corlew says. “But that will be just one component of it.”

Testimony indicates raising the state gasoline and diesel taxes in those ranges would raise anywhere from $250 million to $410 million annually.

Corlew tells Missourinet the task force is also looking at some “sustainable revenue streams” for the future.

Missouri’s fuel tax hasn’t been increased since 1996. The state’s gasoline and diesel tax are both currently 17-cents a gallon.

If the Legislature approves a gasoline and/or diesel tax increase proposal in 2018, the issue would go before Missourians on the statewide ballot, likely in November.

The influential Missouri House Transportation Committee chairman says while truckers oppose toll roads, they support increasing the state’s gasoline tax.

State Rep. Bill Reiboldt, R-Neosho, tells Missourinet there’s a lot of truckers in his southwest Missouri district.

“Obviously they do most of the damage on the roads, to the roads, and they’re good with raising the fuel tax on diesel to perhaps 12 (additional cents),” says Reiboldt.

Reiboldt serves on the 21st century Missouri transportation system task force, which will submit its recommendations to the full Legislature by January 1.

Meantime, voters in eastern Missouri’s Warrenton have approved two citywide sales tax increases to fund a new interchange at Interstate 70 there.

State Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, says Warrenton citizens had to pay to improve a state-owned asset, because the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) doesn’t have the resources to do it itself.

“Because we (Missouri lawmakers in Jefferson City) haven’t had the political will to fund MoDOT appropriately, the city of Warrenton had to take it upon themselves to fix our problem,” Razer says.

Razer tells Missourinet that “sounds like passing the buck” to him.

Razer and State Rep. Bart Korman, R-High Hill, raised the issue during Wednesday’s transportation task force hearing in Columbia.

Representative Razer notes Missouri ranks 47th in the nation in revenue per mile. He believes Missourians will approve a transportation tax increase, when they learn about the current status.

(Missourinet) – Missouri’s prisons have a severe shortage of correctional officers to guard the state’s 34,000 offenders.

Department of Corrections Director Anne Precythe tells Missourinet they lack about 500 officers among its 22 facilities.

“That’s devastating, especially when you look at particular pockets of our neighboring facilities that have 110 vacancies between two facilities. That contributes to the mandatory overtime and to the increased costs,” says Precythe. “It’s killing our staff. If we were to reduce the prison population, the staffing would be more manageable. We still need to fill the vacancies, but the quality of work that the correctional officers can provide would just be so much better.”

The state’s institutions are currently at capacity. Missouri is working with the Council of State Government’s Justice Center to find ways to better use state funding for its criminal justice system, instead of building another prison.

Precythe says pay is a major contributor to the staffing shortfall.

“We have such a compression issue right now,” says Precythe. “I have correctional officers that have been working nine, ten, twelve years and they’re making the same thing that somebody who comes in right off the street. That’s terrible.”

The department also has a serious need for probation and parole assistants. It is offering a one-time $250 incentive to current employees who refer new workers that complete basic training.

The environment is likely another contributor to an employee shortfall. Precythe, who began serving at the helm about a year ago, inherited a department suffering from a culture of harassment, violence and intimidation. An investigation last year by Pitch.com uncovered more than $10 million paid out by the state in five years to settle lawsuits with the department.

Precythe, along with department officials and state lawmakers, have been working to turn around the acute problems that have plagued the state’s prison system.

(Missourinet) – The St. Louis branch of the IRS is urging Missouri residents to be watchful of predators looking to cash in on your identity during to the holiday season.

Spokesperson Michael Devine says there are easy ways to safeguard your identity when shopping online.

“Check the URL at the top,” said Devine. “It should say “htpps” to show that it’s secure.  If you get emails from someone that asks for your personal and financial information, don’t necessarily click on that link. It could infect your computer.”

He suggests you offer only the last four digits of your social security number, if any at all.

The IRS has partnered with the Springfield Better Business Bureau in a campaign to urge Missourians to protect their tax data and their identities.

According to the Deloitte survey, online spending is expected to exceed in-store sales for the first time this holiday season, by a 51%-to-42% margin. Devine says shoppers are better advised to seek out a retailer’s website by doing a search, rather than clicking a link in an online ad which could be compromised.

“You don’t want to be chasing that sale and give up all of your personal and financial information. That’s why you need to have good software protection, malware on your computer.”

The IRS offers several suggestions to safeguard sensitive information. Always use security software with firewall and anti-virus protections. Make sure the security software is always turned on and will automatically update. Encrypt sensitive files such as tax records stored on computers. Also, use strong passwords.

IRS criminal investigators and the U.S. Treasury Department are charged with tracking down identity thieves who file fraudulent tax returns. Devine claims the IRS has never been breached and contends e-filing tax returns is completely secure.

Because they’ve had no success breaching the government, Devine says criminals have turned to schemes involving private businesses. A year-round problem the IRS deals with is company payroll departments that are victimized by identity thieves posing as management.

A payroll employee will get an email from what appears to be a high-ranking executive asking for a copy of every employee’s W-2 form for the purpose of conducting a manual review. Devine says criminals are now going after source documents such as W-2 and 1099 forms that people use to create their tax returns.

There have been numerous instances where thieves have accessed the tax documents of businesses that employ hundreds of people, and then filed fraudulent returns.

Devine says it’s important to protect your personal information by storing it electronically. He advises against carrying hard copies of social security cards or storing tax documents in obvious places at home.

“Hopefully it’s not sitting on a shelf where if you’re the victim of a burglary, they can see a big shoe box that says, ‘tax stuff,'” Devine said.  “They’ll take that box because they’ll have all of your information.”

The IRS reports that the number of people reporting they were victims of identity theft fell to 376,000 in 2016, a 46 percent decline from 699,000 in 2015. So far in 2017, the downward trend has continued. Through August, there were 189,000 taxpayers who reported themselves as identity theft victims, a drop of roughly 40 percent from the same time a year ago.

(Missourinet) – Fourth District Republican Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler announced on Twitter Tuesday morning that Missouri has been granted an extension to comply with federal standards for government issued IDs.

According to Hartzler, Missouri driver’s licenses will be counted as compliant for federal security checkpoints, including at airports, through October 2018. She said she was happy to support the extension along with the rest of the Missouri House delegation in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security last summer.

Missouri has received several extensions of the law over the years because the state legislature failed to move forward on the issue. In 2016, the federal government notified the state that no more extensions would be granted.

A small coalition of legislators, primarily Republicans, have protested against the federal law over storage of personal information in a database.

State Senator Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, sponsored a bill signed into law this year that lets Missourians choose whether they want a federal compliant or non-compliant driver’s license.

At the time, he said he expected the Missouri Department of Revenue, which is overseeing implementation of the law, to begin issuing compliant IDs in 6 to 18 months.

Silvey also said he thought the Revenue Department would ask the federal government for an extension of the January 2018 deadline to come into compliance.

Stricter ID requirements are tied to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and were recommended by the 9/11 Commission. The federal REAL ID Act, which was passed in 2005, requires more stringent identification standards for homeland security and immigration purposes.

Stiffer security standards are already in place at many federal facilities and military bases, and some Missourians have had to use a non-compliant ID with additional identification, such as a birth certificate or Social Security card, to gain access.

(Missourinet) – Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley offers tips for Missouri consumers to protect themselves during the holiday season.

“We want to ensure that consumers get their deals as promised,” Hawley says. “Consumers need to do their research, be well prepared, and avoid being taken advantage of by scammers who prey upon people during this time of year.”

Hawley offers the following tips:

•Bring paper or electronic copies of special advertising. By bringing a copy of the special holiday deal to the store with you, it will be easier for you to verify that you are getting the price that the store advertised.

•Research merchants before you shop. Find out how long a company has been in business and look into its customer service track record before making a substantial purchase. Consumers can use the Attorney General’s online “Know Mo” portal to check for complaints against specific businesses.

•Make sure you understand return and exchange policies. Shoppers should read the fine print to be aware of any restocking fees or deals with limited return or exchange windows. Shoppers should hold on to documentation of purchases and always ask for gift receipts to protect the recipient from being denied the ability to return or exchange items at the full value the buyer paid for it. When shopping online, make sure to hold on to a copy of the final confirmation.

•Be aware of sales advertised only for certain days or hours in the day.

•Be on the lookout for bait-and-switch tactics. Bait-and-switch advertisements aim to draw you in, and then push you toward more expensive items. Shoppers should insist that retailers honor advertised deals and products.

•Make purchases with a credit card. Using a debit card online puts consumers in potential financial danger because a debit card is linked directly to a personal account. With a credit card, you can spend a specific amount that has to be approved. If your credit card is used to make a fraudulent purchase without your permission, you can inform the credit card company and potentially have the payment cancelled.

•Beware of emails pretending to be from businesses like UPS, FedEx or major retailers with links to package tracking information. Avoid clicking on links or opening attachments to emails until you have confirmed that they are not malicious. Some emails can infect your computer with a virus or download malware if you click a link. Email addresses that don’t match up, contain typos and grammatical errors are common red flags of a phishing scam. Make sure you have current antivirus software on your computer.

•Beware of text messages claiming recipient has won a Best Buy gift card (or Target, Home Depot or other major retailer). The text’s URL often leads to a website that has the company’s colors and logo. It looks authentic with the company’s name as the site’s subdomain. However, the texts are a way for scammers to collect personal information and even financial details, claiming the information is necessary to confirm the consumer’s identity or cover taxes/shipping of your “free” prize.

•While there are legitimate organizations and businesses that sell letters from Santa, con artists are also in the market to steal credit card information and the personal information of children.

The Attorney General’s Office recommends online shoppers take precautions to ensure transactions are secure. Only shop with trusted and familiar online retailers. Before entering credit card information, make sure that an “https” precedes the website in the browser address bar. The ‘s’ indicates use of a more secure protocol. Most browsers will display a locked padlock icon when on a secure site.

If you suspect deceptive advertising or other unfair business practices, contact the Attorney General’s Consumer protection hotline at 800-392-8222 or file a complaint online.