HB 2441 -- Good Jobs First Act

Sponsor:  Oxford

This bill establishes the Good Jobs First Act which provides
development subsidies to certain corporations.  In its main
provisions, the bill:

(1)  Requires the Department of Revenue to submit an annual
unified economic development budget to the General Assembly
within three months of the end of the state's fiscal year.  The
report must present all types of expenditures for economic
development during the prior fiscal year, including:

(a)  The amount of uncollected state tax revenues resulting from
every corporate tax credit, abatement, exemption, and reduction
provided by the state or a local governmental unit, including
gross receipts and income, sales, use, raw materials, excise,
property, utility, and inventory taxes;

(b)  The name of each corporation that claimed any tax credit,
abatement, exemption, or reduction of $5,000 or more, together
with the dollar amount received by each corporation;

(c)  The total dollar amount of any tax credit, abatement,
exemption, or reduction received by a corporation of less than
$5,000 and the total number of companies for each tax
expenditure; and

(d)  All state appropriated expenditures for economic
development, including line-item budgets for every state-funded
entity concerned with economic development;

(2)  Requires each property-taxing entity to submit an annual
report within three months of the end of the fiscal year to the
Department of Revenue regarding any real property in the entity's
jurisdiction that has received a property tax abatement or
reduction during the fiscal year and an annual report due by the
same time specifying the amount of property tax revenue which was
not paid to the entity because of the abatements and reductions
and other specified information.  The Department of Revenue must
annually compile and publish all of the data in the reports in a
written and electronic form, including on its web site.  If an
entity fails to submit its reports in a timely manner, the
Department of Revenue must withhold further development subsidy
payments to the entity until it files its reports;

(3)  Requires entities which grant development subsidies and the
applicants who wish to receive them to complete an application.
The bill specifies the application's requirements, including the
average hourly wage to be paid and the type and cost of health
care coverage to be provided to new employees at the project
site.  The granting body must send a copy of an approved
application to the Department of Economic Development within 15
days of the approval;

(4)  Requires a granting body to file an annual progress report
with the department by February 1 for each project that has
received a development subsidy.  The bill specifies the required
information of each progress report;

(5)  Requires the Department of Economic Development to compile
and publish all data from the progress reports in a written and
electronic form, including on its web site;

(6)  Authorizes the Department of Economic Development and the
granting body access at all reasonable times to the project site
and the records of the recipient corporation in order to monitor
the project and prepare progress reports.  A recipient
corporation that does not provide information or access will be
subject to a specified fine;

(7)  Prohibits a granting body from awarding a development
subsidy if the cost per job is greater than $35,000 or if the
wages paid to employees at the project site do not meet specified
thresholds;

(8)  Requires the recipient corporation to fulfill its job
creation, wage, health care, and other benefit requirements for
the project site within two years of the date of the subsidy and
to maintain its wage and benefit goals as long as the subsidy is
in effect or for five years, whichever is longer;

(9)  Requires the corporate parent of a recipient corporation to
maintain at least 90% of its employment in Missouri for as long
as the development subsidy is in effect or five years, whichever
is longer;

(10)  Specifies recapture procedures the granting body must
follow if the recipient corporation does not fulfill its
obligations;

(11)  Authorizes any individual who paid personal income taxes,
or an organization representing these individuals, in the
calendar year prior to any year in which the granting body fails
to enforce these provisions to bring a civil action in state
court to compel enforcement;

(12)  Prohibits any recipient corporation that is awarded
benefits under this act from simultaneously receiving any other
benefit provided by law, including bonds, grants, loans, loan
guarantees, tax increment financing, fee waivers, land price
subsidies, matching funds, tax abatements, tax exemptions, and
tax credits; and

(13)  Prohibits any recipient corporation from reducing wages or
benefits under any collective bargaining agreement or any state
or prevailing wage law.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:14 pm