Friday, May 30, 2008

Economic Development Bill Details

Here are links to the economic development bills that were Truly Agreed to and Finally Passed by the Missouri Legislature. As of yesterday, both of these bills have now been signed by the House Speaker and President of the Senate and have been delivered to the Governor. The Governor has until July 14, 2008, to either sign or veto the bills. If the Governor does not veto the bills by that date, they will automatically become law.

These links provide summaries of the bills and links to the full text of the final language:

House Bill 2058, sponsored by Representative David Pearce

Senate Bill 718, sponsored by Senator Harry Kennedy

Monday, May 19, 2008

2008 Session Complete

For those of you wanting to know if a particular bill passed or the contents of a particular bill, I have provided a link at right to "House TAFP Bill Summaries 2008" that will give you a summary of the bills that were passed by the legislature.

I will be summarizing the key bills of interest at our Spring Conference June 4-6. Look forward to seeing you at the Spring Conference.

Friday, May 16, 2008

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BILLS PASSED

Friday, May 16: Thanks to the strong leadership of Rep. David Pearce and Sen. Harry Kennedy, and the support of many others, we are pleased to announce BOTH omnibus economic development bills passed the legislature and are on their way to the Governor.

Combined with the previously passed mega projects legislation, the Missouri Economic Development Council had an extremely successful legislative session. Despite the fact this was an election year and expectations were initially very low, we were able to accomplish an increase in the Quality Jobs tax credit limit of $20 million from $40 million to $60 million, an increase in the Enhanced Enterprise Zones tax credit limit of $10 million from $14 million to $24 million, made permanent an increase in the Development Tax Credit at $6 million, and several other items.

We will sift through the language of the finally passed bills and issue a more thorough report in the very near future. Until then, please thank your legislators for their votes of support for HB 2058 and SB 718. I would also like to thank you for your participation in the legislative process as it was your phone calls, emails and personal contacts that helped us get this legislation passed.

Ray McCarty
MEDC Legislative Consultant

Monday, May 12, 2008

URGENT ACTION NEEDED!!!

PLEASE CALL YOUR SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE TODAY! Use the "Legislator Lookup" at right to find your legislators and call today.

We are in danger of the economic development bills not passing if you fail to make calls. This means our ability to use the Quality Jobs and Enhanced Enterprise Zone programs is in danger. Please make the call today and ask them to pass HB 2058 (Rep. David Pearce) or SB 718 (Sen. Harry Kennedy). It is crucial you make your call as soon as possible because the session adjourns on Friday.

Also, please call ALL of the following legislative leaders of the House and Senate:

Speaker of the House Rod Jetton 573-751-5912
President Pro Tem Mike Gibbons 573-751-2853
House Speaker Pro Tem Bryan Pratt 573-751-8636
Senate Majority Floor Leader Charlie Shields 573-751-9476
House Majority Floor Leader Steve Tilley 573-751-1488

The fate of the economic development bill firmly rests in our ability to make this bill a priority for the legislators and we need your help.

Thank you for all you do to advance economic development in your communities and in the state!

FINAL WEEK!

May 12, 2008 - The Missouri legislature begins its final week today and we have work to do.

The mega projects legislation has been passed and awaits approval by the Governor. He is expected to sign the bill. Here is a link to the final printed version of the bill.


Our focus turns to the Quality Jobs and Enhanced Enterprise Zone legislation that contains many of our economic development programs. Although one senator said the bill was caught in a standoff between the House and Senate, the House moved the Senate bill in the days following that declaration and both bills remain viable vehicles. SB 718 is ready for House floor debate and HB 2058 has a hearing again today in the Governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Committee in the Senate. That committee is waiting on figures that show the fiscal impact of all the bills passed this session. Senators wanted that information before deciding what to do with our bill. I believe all involved know that the Quality Jobs and Enhanced Enterprise Zone legislation must pass, along with the other core issues (Grow Me Initiative, Development Tax Credits, etc.), but there were many other items added by another Senate committee to our bill. It is possible many of these items could be removed in a floor substitute for the bill, reducing the fiscal impact.

Developments on these bills will happen quickly and we may not have time to update the blog so please be patient. Contact your senators and representatives and let them know you need either SB 718 or HB 2058 to be sent to the Governor for his signature. You may find your Representative and Senator by using the lookup provided at the right.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Mega Projects Bill Passed by the Legislature

May 7, 2008 - Thanks to the strong leadership of Senate Majority Floor Leader Charlie Shields, House Speaker Designee Representative Ron Richard and Representative David Pearce, the Missouri House gave final approval to HB 2393, sending the mega projects legislation to Governor Blunt for signature.

The bill was fine tuned in the Senate to ensure benefit will accrue to Missouri before any benefit is given to mega projects. Legislators and the Department of Economic Development are currently working hard to attract a Bombardier facility to the Kansas City airport area and this bill is a key component of that plan.

The legislation was approved in a strong bipartisan effort and the MEDC thanks the legislators and the Department of Economic Development for their hard work on the bill. MEDC was pleased to support the concepts in the bill.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Mega Projects Legislation Passes Missouri Senate

May 1, 2008 - The Missouri Senate passed HB 2393, a bill that would provide tax benefits as jobs are created at a mega project. The terms of the legislation have changed since first introduced to satisfy the concerns of some that felt the taxpayers' interests were not adequately protected in the initial legislation. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Ron Richard, Speaker Designee for the 2009 session, and was handled in the Senate by Senate Majority Floor Leader Charlie Shields.

The new language may be found here. The bill must now be accepted by the Missouri House or sent to conference for further deliberations. We expect the Missouri House to take the measure up and pass it before the end of session.

The bill provides a framework to attract a major employer to Missouri, one that would provide more than 1,000 new jobs and invest more than $300 million in infrastructure in Missouri. The MEDC has supported establishing such a program and is pleased the Missouri Senate has advanced this bill.

Also on Thursday, the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Tourism and Local Government approved substitute language for HB 2058, one of the omnibus economic development bills. Senators added several items to the legislation, as expected. The final bill will likely be negotiated by a conference committee. HB 2058 is sponsored by Represenatative David Pearce and will be handled in the Senate by Senator Harry Kennedy.

And the House Special Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development again approved SB 718, this time without the mega projects language. The bill will now go to the Rules Committee and then to the full House for consideration. This bill is sponsored by Senator Kennedy and will be handled in the House by Representative Pearce.

Both HB 2058 and SB 718 would provide increases in the money available for Missouri Quality Jobs, Enhanced Enterprise Zones, Grow Me State Initiative, and other legislative priorities of the MEDC. We will keep you updated as we navigate the final two weeks of the legislative session.