ALERT!!! First Hearings Scheduled on Quality Jobs and Enhanced Enterprise Zones

Rep. Ron Richard, Chairman of the House Special Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development, has confirmed the first hearing of our legislation to enhance the Missouri Quality Jobs and Enhanced Enterprise Zones programs will be held February 7, 2007, at 8:00 a.m., in Hearing Room 7 in the basement of the Capitol. You may find more information on the House bills by clicking these links: HB 327 (Quality Jobs) and HB 328 (Enhanced Enterprise Zones).



Sen. John Griesheimer, Chairman of the Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Local Government Committee will also hold the first hearings on the companion bills in the Senate at 2:00 p.m. that afternoon in the Senate Lounge on the third floor of the Capitol. The Senate bills are SB 282 (Quality Jobs) and SB 283 (Enhanced Enterprise Zones).


Since you will be at the Capitol anyway, you could use the time between the two hearings to talk to your local legislator about the importance of these two bills to economic development in your area.


If you cannot make it to the hearing yourself, please consider sending someone else that may be able to provide testimony on the benefits of the Quality Jobs and Enhanced Enterprise Zones in your area. If you cannot attend but have examples or other valuable testimony, please send them to me here by this Friday, February 2.


Please put the hearing on your calendar. I look forward to seeing you there.

Committees Begin Work on Issues

Committees have been appointed and a few committee hearings were held this week, including a Wednesday hearing of the Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Local Government Committee, chaired by Senator John Griesheimer (R-26). The committee heard seven bills, including four "consent" bills.

The "consent" designation was originally used to pass legislation necessary to transfer property from the state to local governments and has been expanded over the years to include bills that are generally non-controversial, have no cost and no revenue gain for the state or local governments. "Consent bills" enjoy special treatment with a special calendar and the number of consent bills that may be passed by a committee is not limited as it is with other bills.

The committee considered one such consent bill, SB 81 (Sen. Griesheimer) that would allow the City of Sullivan to impose a tourism room tax in the city and in the nearby Meramec Caverns area. There was no opposition voiced to the proposal and no action was taken on the proposal.

HB 327, a bill sponsored by Rep. Ron Richard (R-129) to increase the tax credit cap on the Missouri Quality Jobs program and HB 328 (also sponsored by Rep. Richard) regarding Enhanced Enterprise Zones have been referred to the House Special Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development, which is chaired by Rep. Richard. These two bills are priorities for the MEDC and we are pleased they are both poised for early consideration by the committee. HB 448, a bill sponsored by Rep. Michael Spreng (D-76) that exempts all motor vehicles assembled and sold in Missouri from sales and use tax has also been referred to the committee. The committee plans to meet next Wednesday, January 31, at 8:00 a.m for an organizational meeting. No legislation has been posted for consideration at this hearing.

An organizational meeting of the House Special Committee on Small Business has also been posted for Wednesday, January 31, also at 8:00 a.m. The committee plans to hear presentations from service providers for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Also on Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Economic Development Tourism and Local Government plans to meet at 2:00 to consider SB 89 by Senator Matt Bartle (R-8) a bill that would disqualify gaming establishments from the Quality Jobs program and SB 20 by Senator Griesheimer relating to tax increment financing.


NOTE: Additional hearings may be posted or hearing times and places adjusted up to 24 hours before the hearing, so if you plan to travel to Jefferson City to attend a hearing, you may want to check the full hearing schedules before you leave and be sure the bill you are interested in is still on the list for consideration. You may access the hearing lists through the links at the right-top of this page. Also, you may obtain additional information on each of the bills in this article by clicking on the link for each bill.

Governor Matt Blunt's Plan for Tax Reform and Economic Development in 2007

Governor Matt Blunt delivered the State of the State speech Wednesday night. The speech was carried live and by delayed broadcast by a number of stations across Missouri. If you missed the speech, you may view the video or read the text.

Regarding economic development, the Governor announced support for increasing the Missouri Quality Jobs program cap from $12 million to $24 million and an additional $4 million in increased cap for the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority Tax Credits. He also lent his support to Speaker Rod Jetton's plan to eliminate state income taxes on social security, recommended raising the filing threshold for corporation franchise taxes from $1 million to $15 million only if the employer offered employees health insurance and paid at least 50% of the premiums, and recommended making amounts paid for long term disability insurance fully deductible.

Governor Blunt also announced measures designed to raise about $30 million in tax revenue by overturning recent sales tax decisions by the courts that taxpayers have won in recent years, including the Southwestern Bell court case that allowed telecommunications to be treated like other manufacturers for sales tax purposes and the DST case that allowed full sales tax exemption for items purchased and used at least partially for an exempt purpose. Governor Blunt also recommended a change in the treatment of rentals for sales tax purposes, but details of that proposal were not readily available.

Regarding tax reform and economic development, here is an outline of the plan:

$132.7 million tax relief (detailed below)

Minus $30 million tax increase resulting from:

• overturning the Southwestern Bell decision,
• allowing prorating of sales tax exemptions, and
• one other change regarding leases that is not fully explained in the budget summary

Equals $102.7 million net tax reduction.

The tax relief is further detailed as follows:

• $100 million to exempt social security benefits from income tax
• $ 12 million to increase the cap of the Missouri Quality Jobs program
• $ 4 million to increase the cap on Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority Tax Credits
• $ 2.7 million to increase the long-term care insurance deduction from 50% to 100%
• $14 million to increase the Corporation Franchise Tax filing threshold from $1 million to $15 million if the employer provides health insurance to employees and pays at least 50% of the premiums as provided in the Quality Jobs program.

Senate "Works" Late, House Adopts Rules

Last week, the Missouri Senate was brought to a standstill over a matter that is usually routine: approval of gubernatorial appointments.

The governor submits appointees to the Missouri Senate for confirmation and those appointments are referred to a special committee that considers the appointments and returns those that are approved to the full Senate for a final vote. If the appointment survives committee review, approval on the Senate floor is usually somewhat ceremonial.

Senator Matt Bartle (R-8) filibustered the appointment of Warren Erdman to the University of Missouri Board of Curators because of Erdman's support of embryonic stem cell research, which Senator Bartle opposes. The filibuster began on Thursday afternoon and lasted more than 12 hours. In the end, the appointment was confirmed by the Senate early Friday morning.

The Senate committees have been appointed and begin their meetings this week. You may follow the link at the right to the Missouri Senate website for more information on scheduled hearings.

In the Missouri House, a lengthy debate over House rules finally resulted in approval of new rules that give the Speaker of the House more latitude in appointments of minority party members to committees and reduces the number of committee members. While Republican members of committees have been appointed, Democrat members have yet to be appointed. Hearings will begin after the committees have been fully appointed.

Senate and House Committee Chairs Appointed

Committee chairs were appointed during the second week of the 2007 Legislative Session, and committee members were also named in the Missouri Senate. Selection of House members for appointment to the various committees is not expected to be completed for another week or so.

In the House...
Rep. Ron Richard was re-appointed Chairman of the House Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development, the committee likely to consider most economic development legislation MEDC will be promoting or tracking this session. In addition, Rep. Richard will sponsor or co-sponsor many pieces of MEDC priority legislation for 2007.

Rep. Doug Ervin was again appointed Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business and will sponsor our Small Business and Entrepreneurial Growth Act and other bills important to small and growing businesses.

Rep. Vicki Schneider was appointed Chairperson of the House Committee on Local Government, a committee that considered the TIF reform bills last session and will likely consider any such bills during the 2007 session, along with other bills dealing primarily with local government issues.

Listen to the press announcement or print the full list of committee chairs from House Communications:
House Committees Audio
All House Committee Chair Appointments

And in the Senate...
Senator John Griesheimer will again serve as Chairman of the Senate Economic Development, Tourism and Local Government Committee. In addition to considering nearly all economic development issues, Senator Griesheimer's committee will likely handle any TIF reform legislation.

The Senate Small Business, Insurance and Industrial Relations Committee will again be chaired by Senator John Loudon.



For more information, follow this link:
All Senate Committee Appointments

Missouri Senate and Missouri House Called to Order

The opening days of the Missouri's 2007 Legislative Session were filled with tradition, ceremony and speeches. Families and friends gathered to watch the legislators as they were sworn into office, and many new legislators were busy readying their offices. No real action on legislation will occur for the first couple of weeks as legislators spend time adopting rules and appointing committees. If you would like to listen to or read the opening day speeches by the leaders of the House and Senate, please click the links below.


House Speaker Rod Jetton's Opening Day Address:
Audio
Text








Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons' Opening Day Address:
Video
Audio
Text

2007 Legislative Session Begins Tomorrow

The holiday season is over and the legislative season is ready to begin.

MEDC has decided to pursue several legislative priorities, including updates to the Missouri Quality Jobs and Enhanced Enterprise Zone programs. MEDC was the main architect of the Missouri Quality Jobs program that has created thousands of jobs since it was signed into law by Governor Matt Blunt just two years ago. We are now ready to increase funding and make the program even more attractive to site developers and employers looking for a great place to do business.

We will also pursue new initiatives like the Small Business and Entrepreneurial Development Act, designed to help independent businesses grow in Missouri, and the Missouri Economic Development Code that will provide developers with the tools they need to provide infrastructure for new developments in previously undeveloped areas.

We will post updates on the progress of our legislative priorities on this blog, so subscribe or check back often!