Sen. Scott "Cautious on Tax Cuts"

Sen. Delbert Scott (R-Lowry City) tells the KY3 Political Notebook he's unsure if he'll support a tax cut this legislative session because of concerns about future budgetary needs.

Scott, who represents a bunch of Ozarks counties north of Springfield, including Polk, Cedar, Hickory, St. Clair and Benton, said he could not yet throw his support behind a House proposal to eliminate taxes on social security benefits.

"We have to look at the budget and see what we have to sustain our long-term economy," Scott said in an interview Thursday. "I haven't seen the numbers, so I don't know if this is the right time."

Scott said the Senate is usually more cautious about supporting tax cuts because its members have had more experience in budgetary policy.

Scott said he was confident a couple of members of the Senate would introduce their own tax cut proposals, but said his decision would be based on a couple of key numbers:

*Length of the cut & whether it is phased in
*Annual cost of the cut
*Annual growth in the budget

"We have to be cautious. I certainly don't want to throw us back into an economic crisis that we had 6 years ago," Scott said.