Senate Gives First Round Approval to Economic Development Bill!

February 18, 2008 - The Missouri Senate today gave first round approval to SB 718, an omnibus economic development package sponsored by Senator Harry Kennedy, (D-1, St. Louis). The bill was perfected with only three additional amendments (see articles below for additional details on previous amendments).

Today, Senate Amendment 4, an amendment that would have required a percentage of innovation center money to be spent in rural areas was withdrawn by its sponsor, Sen. Kevin Engler (R-3, Farmington). The Senate adopted Senate Amendment 5, offered by Sen. Tom Dempsey (R-23, St. Charles), that requires additional information from businesses residing in incubation centers. The Senate also adopted an amendment providing for the recovery of tax credits from companies that purposefully and directly hire illegal aliens (SSA1 Shields to SA6 Green). And an amendment allowing new power technology companies (solar, wind, etc.) to be treated as "technology" projects for the purposes of the Missouri Quality Jobs Act was adopted (SA 7 Lager).

The bill was then "perfected." The bill will require one final Senate vote before it travels to the House for further deliberation. Our compliments to Sen. Kennedy and Senate leadership for successfully making this bill one of the first bills passed in the Senate this session.

The House economic development bill, HB 2058 sponsored by Rep. David Pearce (R-121, Warrensburg) will be heard on Wednesday, February 20, at 8:00 a.m. in House Hearing Room 7.

Economic Development Bills Moving

February 14, 2008 - The Senate yesterday again took up SB 718, the omnibus economic development package sponsored by Sen. Harry Kennedy (D-1, St. Louis).

An amendment was pending on the bill that would have created letter ruling authority for the Department of Economic Development regarding the New Markets Tax Credit program. In action yesterday, that amendment was withdrawn and replaced with a new amendment that was adopted that accomplishes the same thing but alleviates concerns expressed by some senators regarding the confidentiality of such rulings. An amendment to that amendment that would have allowed such rulings to be revoked by the DED failed.

A push to remove the increase in the Small Business Incubator Tax Credit was withdrawn after several senators that had threatened to delay the bill withdrew their objections. An amendment was proposed to allocate at least 25% of the Incubator Tax Credit to rural areas as defined in the Quality Jobs Act. That amendment is pending as the bill was tabled for debate in the near future.

In the House, HB 2058, sponsored by Rep. David Pearce (R-121, Warrensburg), was referred to the House Special Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development and a hearing is expected next Wednesday, February 20, 2008.

Senate Economic Development Bill Debated

February 12, 2008 - The Missouri Senate today took up, but did not pass, SB 718, an economic development bill sponsored by Senator Harry Kennedy (D-1, St. Louis).

Debate focused on an amendment to the bill offered by Senator Scott Rupp (R-2, St. Charles) that would establish a letter ruling procedure for the New Markets Tax Credit program. Letter rulings would be issued by the Department of Economic Development based on particular facts submitted by the applicant. The ruling would determine whether a particular investor and investment would qualify for tax credits under the New Markets Tax Credit program. Currently, the Department of Revenue uses a similar process to rule on tax matters, but current law does not allow this process for economic development matters.

The bill was laid on the Informal Calendar so it may be further debated in future Senate sessions, possibly as early as Wednesday, February 13, 2008. The bill would increase the Quality Jobs program cap from $40 million to $60 million per year and the Enhanced Enterprise Zones program cap would increase from $14 million to $24 million. The bill would also extend the job retention tax credit portion of Quality Jobs to 2013. The job retention part of that program expired August 30, 2007.

If you are in favor of this bill, you should contact your Senator and let him/her know you support the bill.

Rep. Pearce Files MEDC Priority Economic Development Bill

February 7, 2008 - Rep. David Pearce (R-121, Warrensburg) has filed the first of two expected omnibus economic development bills in the Missouri House.

He was joined by 87 co-sponsors of both parties in filing HB 2058, making a truly bipartisan effort. The Chairman of the House Special Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development, Rep. Ron Richard (R-129, Joplin), and every member of that committee were included among the co-sponsors of the bill.

The bill contains the following provisions:

1. Increase in the Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credit from $4 million to $6 million;
2. Increase in Enhanced Enterprise Zone tax credits from $14 million to $24 million;
3. Codification of existing sales tax treatment of sales of certain items by defense contractors to foreign governments;
4. "Grow Me State" angel investment tax credit of 30-40% of first $500,000 invested in a qualifying Missouri business, with a limit of $50,000 per investor per business and $100,000 per investor per year and an annual cap of $5 million for the entire program;
5. Increase in the annual cap on tax credits authorized for Small Business Incubators program from $500,000 to $2 million;
6. Increase in cap on Quality Jobs program from $40 million to $60 million;
7. Extension of the retention credit in Quality Jobs to August 30, 2013.
   

The bill is expected to be referred to committee next week and heard very soon. We will keep you posted of the progress of this legislation.

The bill is the first of two anticipated omnibus economic development bills that are underway. Another bill by Rep. Tim Flook (R-34, Liberty) is being prepared now. We are working closely with sponsors of both of these pieces of legislation.

Senator Harry Kennedy Files Economic Development Bill in Senate

Senator Harry Kennedy (D-1) has obtained approval from the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Tourism and Local Government of his proposal to extend the Quality Jobs retention program to August 30, 2013. That credit expired August 30, 2007.

The Committee Substitute also contains provisions that would increase the annual cap on the Enhanced Enterprise Zone program from $14 million to $24 million and increase the annual cap on the Quality Jobs program from $40 million to $60 million. Senator Kennedy's bill is the first broad economic development bill passed by the committee this session.

MEDC thanks Senator Kennedy for his leadership in carrying this legislation and we look forward to working with him as the bill progresses through the legislature.

Senator Kennedy's bill is SB 718.

We are also continuing to work with House leaders as we assemble the economic development packages for this session.

MEDCode...I Mean "Missouri Voluntary Developer Agreement Law" Filed in House

January 16, 2008 - Representative David Pearce (R-121, Warrensburg) today filed HB 1660 - MEDC priority legislation that will codify the ability of taxing districts to enter into voluntary developer agreements for economic development projects.

Formerly dubbed the "Missouri Economic Development Code", the bill was the subject of a mandated review by the Joint Committee on Tax Policy which had earlier given its approval for further exploration of the concept. Actually, the bill allows local taxing districts to continue to enter into voluntary agreements with developers to dedicate a portion of new tax proceeds from new developments to help finance the infrastructure necessary to support those developments. The bill only allows the proceeds to be used for publicly owned infrastructure improvements, the amount of tax money dedicated for use is decided upon by each local taxing entity, no taxing entity can be forced to participate, and the bill does not supercede other TIF reform that was recently passed by the General Assembly.

The bill was originally filed two years ago to ensure TIF reform did not accidentally prevent local governments from voluntarily entering into such agreements with developers. The language was stripped from a bill last session and replaced with language requiring a study of the proposal by the Joint Committee on Tax Policy.

The Voluntary Developer Agreement Law is the top legislative priority of the MEDC for the 2008 Legislative Session. If you have any questions regarding the bill, please send them to ray@raymccarty.com.

2008 Bills of Interest Now Available

January 3, 2008 - The 2008 Legislative Session will begin January 9, 2008. Lawmakers are already able to file bills and we have been reviewing them as they are filed.

As we did last year, you will find the updated list of bills we are tracking by clicking on the link at the upper right side of this screen entitled, "MEDC Bills of Interest". We will update the list frequently as new bills are added and as new actions occur to the bills on the list.

We expect a large number of bills to be filed as the session opens, including several MEDC legislative priorities, so stay tuned!