Gov. Jay Nixon intends to call legislators into special session in September to iron out three initiatives in the economic development bill, he said at a press conference held yesterday (Thursday, Jul. 21) at the Danforth Plant Science Center.
“We need bold vision and competitive spirit again, because we aren’t competing against one Cold War arch-enemy: we are competing against the world,” he said.
Here’s his to-do list.
First, pass Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act. The act creates an ongoing source of funding to foster investment in high-tech and scientific research companies, he said The funding will come from capturing a percentage of tax revenue generated by employees at new and existing life science companies clustered in St. Louis, Kansas City and in the animal health corridor that extends from St. Joseph to Kansas City to Columbia.
Next, push forward the Compete Missouri Job Training Program, which provides financial assistance and incentives for new job training to qualifying businesses and technology centers.
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“We needed tools that were sharper, more effective and more user-friendly,” he said. “So we’re cutting through red tape, streamlining processes and meeting the job creators where they are, rather than forcing them to contort their business plans to fit our obsolete economic development regulations.”
Third, he said foreign trade is a “breakaway success.”
Missouri’s total exports grew by 35 percent in 2010, for a total of nearly $13 billion. And during the first quarter of 2011, Missouri exports were up an additional 18 percent.
Transportation equipment, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and aerospace are the state’s top exports, but he said food and agricultural products are picking up steam.
“We’re going to keep on making things at the most sophisticated and efficient manufacturing facilities in the nation,” he said. “Now we need a better way to get our goods from here to there.”
He said the creation of a thriving commercial hub in St. Louis, outlined in the Aerotropolis initiative, would allow Missouri to continue to drive up exports. The hub would provide infrastructure, such as warehouses and cold storage facilities, around Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to support more international exports.
Lastly he mentioned the Broadband Now initiative to expand the state’s digital networks.
Yet, all these must be done in a fiscally responsible way, he said. Tax credit reform is what will give us the money to invest, he said.
“If we don’t get tax credit reform, we simply can’t afford it,” he said. “And as the responsible steward of our taxpayer’s hard-earned dollars, I simply will not sign any legislation we can’t pay for.”
State Rep. Clem Smith is glad Nixon is calling a special session to go over the economic bill, he said. However, the press conference was the first time he had been briefed on Nixon’s plans for the bill.
“They keep saying it’s been a bipartisan effort, but I sit on economic development,” he said. “And unless I missed the phone call, there has no been communication on their end.”
Smith is most concerned that legislators will continue to try and phase out the Missouri Circuit Breaker, now the Missouri Property Tax Credit. This program gives a tax credit for renters who are disabled or seniors and whose incomes fall below designated levels.
“I was supportive of the bill until that point,” he said “That’s just not acceptable for the citizens of Missouri.”
Regarding the Aerotropolis imitative for the commercial hub, State Sen. Maria
Chappelle-Nadal said her biggest concern about the project is that it needs to be paid for, especially knowing that millions of dollars are needed to rebuild Joplin and North County after the tornadoes and floods.
“We are going to have to do a really fine tune balancing act,” she said. “We need to be looking at the benefit of the state.”
She also said any new construction projects created by Aerotropolis should state minority participation goals.
“This is in the middle of North County and an area where people are underemployed,” she said. “If Paul McKee and the other key players want to participate and get tax credits from the state, they’re all going to have to be good civic participants and ensure that we have a high level of minority participation.”