 |
| October 21, 2009
Missouri Governor's
Priorities Presented to RCGA Public Policy Council
At their October 16th
meeting, the RCGA Public Policy Council discussed economic
development issues the General Assembly will address in
January. The Council welcomed Jeff
Harris, Policy Director for Missouri Governor Jay Nixon,
who began with a review of the accomplishments
from last session. Harris counted the expanded
Missouri Quality Jobs program, the elimination of the corporate
franchise tax for thousands of small businesses, and partial
funding of the "Caring for Missourians" program to train more
health care professionals across the State among the initial
successes of the new administration.
Even in the tough
budget climate, Harris said that Governor Nixon will continue to
push for job creation and workforce programs to help move
Missouri's economy forward. Harris said encouraging
entrepreneurial growth and fostering a culture of innovation
will be priorities for the Nixon
Administration.
 |
| Jeff Harris,
Policy Director for Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, describes the
Governor Nixon's accomplishments and priorities to the RCGA
Public Policy Council. |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Public Policy Council also discusses Entrepreneurial
Growth and Economic Development
The Public Policy Council
also heard two presentations on the importance of capital
formation programs and entrepreneurial growth. While
state programs cover activities in business expansion,
revitalization and historic preservation, there is a hole in
Missouri's economic development portfolio when it comes to
programs stimulating investments in advanced technology start-up
companies. According to a study for the RCGA's "Grow Me State"
Initiative, Missouri spends
only $0.10 per capita on capital formation activities compared
to $2.94 by competing states.
Donn Rubin, Executive Director of the Coalition
for Plant and Life Sciences
presented on the Missouri Science & Innovation
Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA), a new tool that would expand
Missouri's capacity to grow scientific companies. MOSIRA
would provide a significant and predictable source of support
for building the entrepreneurial infrastructure in the State.
The plan would not impact existing state General Revenue, but
would instead capture incremental state income taxes generated
by new jobs in science and innovation industries, and reinvest
those funds into programs and infrastructure to attract, create,
and grow science and innovation companies. Rubin said that
MOSIRA would help keep new plant and life sciences companies in
Missouri because it would produce sources of needed capital for
these young start-up companies that otherwise must look
elsewhere to grow. Click here for his presentation to the Council.
Bill Simon, Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer, of the Center for Emerging Technology (CET)
in St. Louis, described how CET's Innovation Center supports
entrepreneurs (click here for
presentation). The CET has a
90% success rate with incubating companies, creating 480 jobs
and $52 million in local and state taxes. Over the 10-year
life of CET, $647 million has been attracted to its companies,
80% of which has come from outside of the St. Louis
region. Simon said that entrepreneurial companies locate in
St. Louis to be close to world-class research being conducted at
our universities and to access the talent of these institutions
and the plant and life science companies in the region.
|
|
 |
| Donn Rubin,
Executive Director of The Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences,
explains MOSIRA, a legislative proposal to increase
infrastructure support for science and innovation in
Missouri. |
Bill Simon, V.P. and Chief
Operating Officer of the Center for Emerging Technologies,
describes the success of CET's Innovation Center in creating new
companies in St. Louis. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Missouri Joint Committee on Tax Policy
hears testimony on the Appropriations Process, RCGA's Angel Tax
Credit proposed
Missouri's
Joint Committee on Tax Policy met at St. Louis Community
College's Meramec campus on October 20th to discuss
business development tax credits and a proposal to require all
tax credits to be subjected to the annual appropriations
process.
Sen. Jason Crowell (R-Cape Girardeau)
testified in support of using the annual appropriations
process to authorize all tax credits. Crowell
explained that he wants to give the General Assembly "options"
and take away what he called the current "entitlement system."
Sen. Crowell said, "If we can make Medicaid subject to
appropriations, we can make tax credits subject to
appropriations."
The RCGA opposes subjecting tax credit
programs to the annual appropriations process because it would
adversely affect the timeliness and certainty of the
programs. The appropriations process would have the
effect of "disabling" tax credit programs, because the
legislature could "zero-out" a program without warning,
essentially providing an "instant sunset" on the program in any
given year. Thus, state and national site consultants and
investors would not know the level at which programs would be
funded in any given year, so they would likely value the credits
at $0.
|
 |
 |
|
Sen.
Jason Crowell recommends subjecting tax credit programs to the
annual appropriations process.
|
Gil Bickel
(right), Chair of the St. Louis Arch Angels, and
Jay DeLong of the RCGA, testify in support of establishing an
Angel Tax Credit in Missouri. |
Jay DeLong, Vice President of
New Ventures and Capital Formation for the RCGA,
testified along with Gil Bickel, Chairman of the St.
Louis Arch Angels, on the merits of establishing an
Angel Tax Credit program for Missouri, which already exists in
20 other states. DeLong noted that several states have
increased the size of their Angel Tax Credit programs, despite
facing budget difficulties like Missouri, because they view the
programs as key investments in the future of their state
economies. Bickel told the Committee that the Angel
Tax Credit would help mitigate the extreme risks involved in
investing in startup companies to help make deals in Missouri
more feasible.
The Committee also heard brief testimony on
business development tax credits, including the Business
Facility Tax Credit, Enterprise Zone Tax Credit, BUILD (Business
Use Incentives for Large-scale Development), Development Tax
Credit, Rebuilding Communities Tax Credit, and Film Production
Tax Credit. The RCGA supports proven tax credit
programs, such as BUILD, Missouri Quality Jobs and the Film
Production Tax Credit, which leverage private investment and
stimulate employment and economic growth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Focus on Illinois: General
Assembly Completes First Week of Veto Session
Illinois
legislators returned to Springfield last week to consider bills
vetoed by Governor Pat Quinn and to address potential new
legislation. The veto session began on Wednesday, October
14th and will resume on October 28th.
There is speculation that a third week may be added to address
the State's burgeoning budget problems.
The first week brought
quick action to restore $205 million to the Monetary Award
Program (MAP). This program provides grants for 137,000
students at higher education institutions, including 2,100
students at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. While
the Legislature restored funding for the program, a revenue
source for the restored funding has not yet been identified.
The Illinois House overwhelmingly passed a new tax credit
for the cost of energy used in a manufacturing process.
Missouri recently passed a similar tax credit program, and
Illinois needs this incentive to preserve manufacturing jobs and
remain competitive with neighboring states. The bill, House Bill 4599, was co-sponsored by
Southwestern Illinois legislators: Rep. Dan Beiser
(D-Alton), Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson, Sr. (D-East St. Louis), Rep.
Dan Reitz (R-Sparta) and Rep. Ron Stephens
(R-Highland). The bill now moves to the Senate.
The RCGA
continues to closely follow the evolution of the STAR Bonds
legislation enacted last session that would allow state
financing of University Town Center, a proposed retail
and entertainment district in Glen Carbon. The
original bill would have allowed 100% of the new state and local
sales tax collected by the new STAR district to be reinvested in
infrastructure development. Over the summer Governor Quinn used
his amendatory veto authority to allow only 50% of the new
revenue to be directed for the development. During the Veto
Session, legislators are considering changes that would address
the Governor's concerns in a way that will still allow the
project to move forward.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Discovering Green Savings" Seminar Assists Companies
To Become More Energy Efficient
The mission of the RCGA's
St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project is to help lead St. Louis
toward becoming a "greenbelt" economy, and to support this goal
the RCGA has organized seminars throughout the year to encourage
increased sustainability by area businesses. The third
such seminar, "Discovering Green Savings" was held on October
7th and featured tools to help companies measure and
reduce their energy costs.
Candice Derks-Wood,
Sustainability Manager for Burns & McDonnell
told an audience of more than 90 RCGA members that
facilities that emit more than 25,000 metric tons of
CO2 emissions will be required to report their 2010
greenhouse gas inventory to the U.S. EPA by March 31, 2011.
Burns & McDonnell offers a greenhouse gas inventory
checklist to help companies measure and identify emissions.
Darrell Butler, Project Manager for Burns &
McDonnell, explained how performance contracting can
help companies finance their energy efficiency improvements.
 |
 |
| Candice Derks-Wood of Burns
& McDonnell explains how to begin a greenhouse gas
inventory. |
Darrell
Butler of Burns & McDonnell describes the value of
performance contracting |
Pat Justis, Senior Program Manager
for AmerenUE and Tom
Schultz, Utilization Engineering Manager for Laclede Gas, explained the
energy efficiency incentive programs offered by their
companies. AmerenUE and Laclede Gas offer prescriptive and
custom incentives for improvements to lighting, heating,
ventilation, motors and refrigeration units that reduce energy
consumption.
 |
 |
| Pat Justis of
AmerenUE outlines their energy efficiency incentive programs to
RCGA members. |
Tom Schultz of
Laclede Gas points out the payback of higher-efficiency natural
gas heating equipment. |
Nick
Hennen, Area Business Manager for Missouri Enterprise,
described their new "Show Me Green" Energy Assessment program.
These energy assessments identify energy saving processes for
manufacturing and industrial sites. Mark Lawson,
founder of Information Security
Networks, explained how information systems can
help manage energy consumption and reduce costs. All of the
presentations from "Discovering Green Savings" can be found at
the website for the RCGA's St. Louis Climate Prosperity
Project.
 |
 |
| Nick Hennen
presents Missouri Enterprise's programs to improve energy
efficiency of industrial sites. |
Mark Lawson of Information Security Networks
provided case studies on business using information systems to
manage and reduce energy costs. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
The RCGAdvocate is published
periodically to inform RCGA members and government officials
about important public policy matters at the state, federal and
local levels. It seeks to provide timely, in-depth coverage on
regional issues, and, at times, to call RCGA members to action.
We welcome your comments and suggestions.
Richard C.D. Fleming ~ President
& CEO ~ (314) 444-1100 ~ dfleming@stlrcga.org
Chip
Casteel ~ Senior V.P. of Public Policy ~ (314) 444-1107 ~
ccasteel@stlrcga.org
Susan Stauder ~ V.P.
of Infrastructure & Public Policy ~ (314) 444-1155
~ sstauder@stlrcga.org
Eric
Schneider ~ Senior Director of Public Policy Research ~ (314)
444-1148 ~ eschneider@stlrcga.org
Kevin Riggs ~ Director of Illinois
Government Affairs ~ (314) 444-1108 ~ kriggs@stlrcga.org
Christine Snively ~ Project Manager of
Public Policy ~ (314) 444-1144 ~ csnively@stlrcga.org
Sherri Bailey ~ Executive Assistant for Public Policy ~
(314) 444-1134 ~ sbailey@stlrcga.org
|
|
|
|
|
|
November 19th:
December 11th:
