Earlier this week the Missouri State House voted along party lines to approve repealing the state's corporate sales tax with Republicans approving the measure and Democrats opposing it. Two days later the Republicans blocked a Democratic proposed amendment to the annual budget that would raise salaries for Department of Social Services child abuse investigators whose starting salaries are about $43K. For perspective, that's about $10K less than the average starting pay for new full time employees at several St. Louis area retail and gas station chains.