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4, an amendment that would have required a percentage of innovation center money to be spent in rural areas was withdrawn by its sponsor, Sen.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.