By Susan Redden
sredden@joplinglobe.com
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Speakers embraced elements of a proposed economic-development bill before a House committee on Tuesday.
The measure was unanimously endorsed by the House Committee on Job Creation and Economic Development, and will be considered by the House on Thursday, said Rep. Ron Richard, R-Joplin.
The measure is a focus of the special legislative session that began Monday. Gov. Matt Blunt called lawmakers back to the Capitol to act on a new economic-development bill.
Blunt vetoed an earlier version passed in the regular session, saying elements added to that bill made it too costly.
The version endorsed Tuesday has a price tag of $51 million, compared with $200 million for the earlier bill, said Richard, committee chairman and the bill’s sponsor.
“We believe this proposal is fiscally responsible,” said Richard, who was part of a joint House-Senate committee that pared down the earlier legislation.
He said more than 30 amendments that were added in the regular session have been removed, but some of them will be revisited in the next regular session.
Richard spoke on behalf of the legislation, as did Greg Steinhoff, head of the Missouri Department of Economic Development.
Steinhoff said the bill would build on the successes of the Quality Jobs Act, which he said has generated more than 17,000 new jobs across the state.
But, he said, incentives under the current legislation have been exhausted, and thousands of new jobs hinge on expanded spending caps for economic-development projects in the new bill.
“A lot of companies are interested in Missouri and are watching what happens here,” Steinhoff said.
The bill would expand tax credits available for employers who create new jobs that pay above-average wages and provide 50 percent of the health-insurance costs for employees.
The measure also would expand incentives that are available in the state’s enhanced enterprise zone program and expands a job-retraining program through Missouri colleges.
It also would create new market initiatives aimed at bringing cutting-edge jobs to Missouri.
Those provisions were praised by speakers representing the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and statewide economic-development representatives.
“The current program has made Missouri more competitive, but there are businesses that want to come to the state or to grow here,” said Jeff Kazmerek, with the Kansas City Economic Development Corp. “Those jobs are critical, and they’re waiting for this outcome.”
A beef-tax credit program brought praise from state agricultural interests, and a provision that would allow the resale of sports and concert tickets was endorsed by spokesmen for sports teams and ticket vendors.
“This will give our season-ticket holders and others a safe and secure way to buy and sell tickets with recourse when there is a problem,” said John Barget, with the St. Louis Cardinals. “Studies show this law has driven down prices in other states.”
While dozens of speakers who packed the hearing room spoke in favor of the bill, Sarah Steelman, state treasurer, said the measure should include safeguards to ensure that tax credits don’t go to contractors who employ illegal immigrants.
A provision of the bill that would allow developers to get tax credits for projects that assemble large tracts of land for redeveloping deteriorated parts of Kansas City and St. Louis got the endorsement of some St. Louis groups, while others said the procedure would not do enough to involve local governments and neighborhood organizations.
The committee endorsed an amendment designed to ensure that local elected officials would have input on the projects.
Jobs bill
Senate action on the economic-development bill is scheduled to begin next Tuesday.
Local News
<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0>Committee endorses economic-development bill<font color="#ff0000"> w/ link to summary and full text of HB 1</font>
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