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.

Here is a link to the final printed version of the bill.

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.

Economic Development Bill Sent Back To Committee!

April 30, 2008 - In a shocking move, the House Rules Committee returned SB 718, the bill described below, to the House committee to remove the Bombardier mega projects language. Members of the committee, including House Majority Floor Leader Steve Tilley, indicated that every economic development bill should not have the Bombardier language on it and the committee agreed.

The bill will be returned to the House Special Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development for further action.

House Committee Approves Senate Economic Development Bill

The House Special Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development, chaired by Speaker Designee Representative Ron Richard, approved SB 718 with a few additions. The bill is sponsored by Senator Harry Kennedy.

The bill, which you may access by clicking here, would accomplish many of the economic development proposals this session. Click here for a detailed summary prepared by House Research Analyst Alice Hurley.

On that note, the author would like to thank the crack staff at House Research for their hard work this legislative session. I have the opportunity in my profession to interact with several of the House Research staff through work with various committees and they consistently provide excellent service to their committees, legislators and the public. They work long, hard hours with little thanks. The House Research division is led by Bill Tucker and his leadership shines through the work of his staff, including the ones I have the most contact with: Alice Hurley, Karla Strobel, and Roland Tackett. Thanks to all of you, and the rest of the House Research Staff, for another great session!

You may also access another summary, prepared by Senate Research Analyst Jason Zamkus, who also deserves thanks for a great job this session by clicking here.

Ray McCarty

MEDC Supports Bill to Protect Intellectual Property Rights

April 23, 2008 - The House Special Committee on Small Business today heard and passed HB 2555, a bill sponsored by Representative David Pearce that would establish an Entrepreneurial Development Council and fund. A companion bill was filed in the Senate by Senator Frank Barnitz.

The purpose of the legislation is to provide a mechanism for entrepreneurs of all sizes to join together to protect their intellectual property interests such as copyrights, patents and trademarks. Witnesses cited examples where small entrepreneurs were cheated out of the benefit of their inventions by larger interests with the financial ability to support lengthy litigation processes, resulting in small business failure and loss of good ideas born in Missouri to interests in other states and countries. In one case, even the Federal government had allegedly infringed on a patent on a defense article, according to one witness.

The bill would establish a council appointed by the Governor and establish a fund that could accept appropriations, gifts, and registration fees for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs wishing to avail themselves of the protection afforded by the Council would need to register and pay a registration fee. The fund would be used to help defend intellectual property of registered entrepreneurs and would be allowed to make low interest loans and grants to assist those registered with marketing and other start up costs.

The bill was supported by several witnesses including Ben Jones, President-elect of the MEDC and President of America's Heartland Economic Partnership, Ray McCarty representing Associated Industries of Missouri and the Missouri Economic Development Council, and several entrepreneurs and professors. There was no opposition expressed to the Committee and the bill was approved on a unanimous vote.

MEDC Supports Mega Projects Bill

April 18, 2008 - The Missouri Economic Development Council has joined other economic development organizations and business representatives in supporting SB 1234 and HB 2393. The legislation would create an incentive program to attract large scale economic development projects that create more than 1,000 new jobs and result in more than $300 million in infrastructure investment over 8 years.

The incentive is based on a percentage of new payroll actually paid to employees and is capped at a maximum of $40 million per year. In order to receive $40 million in tax credits, the employer must be adding new annual payroll of $50 million in the first three years, $66.7 million in the fourth and fifth years, $80 million in the sixth and seventh years, $133.3 million in the eighth and ninth years, and $160 million in the tenth and subsequent years. The tax credits issued under the bill must be repaid to the state based on a plan developed between the credit recipient and the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

MEDC has prepared a letter of support which may be accessed here.
CLICK HERE FOR A COPY OF THE TEXT OF THE MOST CURRENT VERSION OF THE BILL (4-22-08)

Rep. Pearce Leads House Passage of Economic Development Bill

Thanks to the strong leadership of Representative David Pearce (R-121, Warrensburg), the omnibus economic development bill, HB 2058, passed the Missouri House today on a strong bipartisan vote. The voice vote approving the bill was nearly unanimous.

The bill was amended by Rep. Pearce to remove the Missouri Quality Jobs funding limitation entirely, changed the administration of the Angel Investment Tax Credit to DED from the Missouri Technology Corporation and added a property tax provision from Rep. Tim Flook (R-34, Liberty) that lowers real property taxes on land around the KC airport that may potentially be used by a large new development. This was the only amendment to the bill and the amendment was also overwhelmingly approved on a roll-call vote by a vote of 122-18.

UPDATE 4-23-08: The House bill passed the House and was referred to the Senate Economic Development Committee. The Senate bill has passed the Senate, was referred to the House Special Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development and will have a hearing 4-24-08. The cap on Quality Jobs is $60 million in the Senate version.