The legislative Spring Break begins upon adjournment of the Senate and House Thursday, March 15, and ends when the House and Senate reconvene on Monday, March 26. As usual, the week before the break promises to be a busy one again this year, particularly for economic development legislation. This is also a good time to evaluate the progress of our priority legislation.
The Senate version of our Missouri Quality Jobs and Enhanced Enterprise Zone bill has been laid over for now, but the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Tourism and Local Government will hold a hearing on the House version of the bill on Wednesday, March 14, at 2:00 p.m. in the Senate Lounge. Because this committee has already heard the Senate bill, it is not necessary for many people to attend the hearing, but it is imperative that you contact your senators now and let them know you support both the House and Senate versions of the bill: HB 327 and SB 282. These bills also contain the extension of the New Jobs Training program and the Senate version also contains a land assemblage tax credit.
As we reported earlier this week, the Missouri Economic Development Code legislation, HB 741, was approved by the House Special Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development. The bill will now be referred to the House Rules Committee and then will be eligible for floor debate by the full House.
Our Chapter 100 sales tax exemption that would exempt cities from sales tax liability when doing a Chapter 100 project, HB 130, has been approved by the
The MEDC’s Regional Economic Development Districts bill, HB 688, was heard in the House Special Committee on Rural Community Development on February 28 and may be approved by the committee as early as its next meeting on Tuesday, March 13. The Committee Chairman has requested, and we have provided, an amendment to the legislation to allow cities and counties to impose any sales taxes for the benefit of the districts rather than allowing the districts to impose the tax themselves. There was some concern raised in committee that a larger community could “bully” a smaller community into a sales tax, even if voters in that community opposed such a tax. The amendment relieves this problem by allowing each city or county that is part of the regional district to levy its own sales tax, if it desires, for the benefit of the district. This will provide more flexibility for funding the district, allowing a mix of sales tax and other local government funding. These districts would not use any state funding.
The Small Business Growth Act, HCS HB 365, 804 & 805, is on the House Calendar and is ready for full House debate. The bill contains the Quality Jobs Lite legislation that is a MEDC priority that allows small employers to retain withholding taxes if they are adding jobs at 85% of county average wage and provides additional benefits if the small employer offers health insurance to employees. The bill also contains a Small Business Investment Tax Credit and a Missouri Technology Corporation Tax Credit to stimulate investment in small businesses.
Also of interest to many MEDC members is the exemption of utilities, chemicals, machinery and equipment used in manufacturing from sales tax that is contained in HB 131. This exemption would make
