The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Missouri bill authorizes certain counties to put a tourism hotel tax up to 0.5% on voter ballots
Last action · May 15, 2026: Referred: Emerging Issues(H)Sponsor: Mike McGirl
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What This Bill Would Do
House Bill 1765 allows qualifying Missouri counties with specific population thresholds to impose a transient guest tax of up to 0.5% on hotel and motel rooms, provided the tax is first approved by local voters.
Residents in qualifying counties decide at the ballot box whether to fund local tourism promotion through a new charge on hotel and motel stays.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
transient guests of hotels or motels
Transient guests staying in hotels or motels in qualifying counties may pay a tax of up to one-half of one percent per occupied room per night if approved by voters.
qualified voters of the county
Qualified voters in eligible counties decide via ballot whether to authorize the transient guest tax.
Key Facts
- Authorizes the governing body of a county with more than twenty-two thousand but fewer than twenty-five thousand inhabitants and a county seat with between two thousand three hundred and four thousand inhabitants to impose a transient guest tax.
- Defines transient guests as persons occupying a hotel or motel room for thirty-one days or less during any calendar quarter.
- Caps the lodging tax rate at a maximum of one-half of one percent per occupied room per night.
- Requires the tax to be stated separately from all other charges and taxes.
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- Mandates that all proceeds from the tax be used solely by the county to fund the promotion of tourism.
- Prohibits the tax from taking effect unless approved by a majority of the county's qualified voters voting on the proposal.
- Sets the effective date for an approved tax on the first day of the second calendar quarter following the election quarter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which counties are eligible to impose this hotel tax under the bill?
What can the tax revenue be used for?
Do voters have a say in whether the tax is applied?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
4 actions- May 15, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred: Emerging Issues(H)
- Jan 8, 2026HouseFloorRead Second Time (H)
- Jan 7, 2026HouseIntroducedRead First Time (H)
- Dec 1, 2025HouseIntroducedPrefiled (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Connected Entities
Sources
house.mo.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance40How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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