Missouri Senate to burn midnight oil on economic development
JEFFERSON CITY — Tune in tonight if you want to hear the long-awaited Senate debate on Gov. Jay Nixon’s jobs bill.
Senators plan to take up the bill at 8 p.m. and debate it as long as it takes to wrap up amendments.
Nixon wants to increase tax credits for the state’s Quality Jobs program, which rewards employers who pay above-average wages and provide health insurance. The House passed the plan weeks ago but it stalled in the Senate.
About six Republican senators are pressing for more controls on tax credits. But this afternoon, they narrowly lost a bid to make the subsidies subject to the annual appropriations process.
A new substitute is being printed while the Senate is in a two-hour recess. Of special interest in St. Louis: The new version would cap historic preservation tax credits at $100 million a year. That credit is presently unlimited; the state authorized $170 million in historic credits last year.
Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, initially proposed a $50 million cap on the program. He said tonight that he has agreed to $100 million but that’s as high as he will go.
“If we lose, the bill’s got a new set of problems,” he said.
Senators predicted lengthy debate, especially from Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, one of the most strident critics of the bill.
“There’s going to be 1,000 amendments,” Lager said. To listen, go to the Senate’s website and click on Live Debate.
Nothing on Lavota(?) being investigated by FBI for play for pay? I think I posted on here once that everyone who knows him says that toad’s a dog. Don’t know him personally, so just saying. But no shock here. And we should presume him innocent, as he says he is. Nor take joy in another’s misfortune. Tho we can make exceptions, and if he is guilty, not too many tears shed in MO from what I know. Prefer it be a Republican tho. People have to listen to Cassandra more. But they haven’t for 5000 years, so why start now?
We need to focus more attention on this cap for the Historic Tax Credit program. As the state’s most effective economic development tool, it warrants support to keep businesses and investment in Missouri. As a significant tool for neighborhood renewal in St. Louis and small towns across the state, it should be the top priority for many lawmakers.
This could be an early test for Gov. Nixon to show his fortitude against hair-brained schemes by the GOP legislature, not to mention a way to repay his significant urban support.