FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

HOUSE BILL NO. 190

95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

0715L.02C                                                                                                                                                 D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk


 

AN ACT

To repeal sections 67.1461 and 620.472, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to job training.




Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:


            Section A. Sections 67.1461 and 620.472, RSMo, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 67.1461 and 620.472, to read as follows:

            67.1461. 1. Each district shall have all the powers, except to the extent any such power has been limited by the petition approved by the governing body of the municipality to establish the district, necessary to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of sections 67.1401 to 67.1571 including, but not limited to, the following:

            (1) To adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws, not inconsistent with sections 67.1401 to 67.1571, necessary or convenient to carry out the provisions of sections 67.1401 to 67.1571;

            (2) To sue and be sued;

            (3) To make and enter into contracts and other instruments, with public and private entities, necessary or convenient to exercise its powers and carry out its duties pursuant to sections 67.1401 to 67.1571;

            (4) To accept grants, guarantees and donations of property, labor, services, or other things of value from any public or private source;

            (5) To employ or contract for such managerial, engineering, legal, technical, clerical, accounting, or other assistance as it deems advisable;

            (6) To acquire by purchase, lease, gift, grant, bequest, devise, or otherwise, any real property within its boundaries, personal property, or any interest in such property;

            (7) To sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, mortgage, pledge, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber or dispose of any real or personal property or any interest in such property;

            (8) To levy and collect special assessments and taxes as provided in sections 67.1401 to 67.1571. However, no such assessments or taxes shall be levied on any property exempt from taxation pursuant to subdivision (5) of section 137.100, RSMo. Those exempt pursuant to subdivision (5) of section 137.100, RSMo, may voluntarily participate in the provisions of sections 67.1401 to 67.1571;

            (9) If the district is a political subdivision, to levy real property taxes and business license taxes in the county seat of a county of the first classification containing a population of at least two hundred thousand, as provided in sections 67.1401 to 67.1571. However, no such assessments or taxes shall be levied on any property exempt from taxation pursuant to subdivisions (2) and (5) of section 137.100, RSMo. Those exempt pursuant to subdivisions (2) and (5) of section 137.100, RSMo, may voluntarily participate in the provisions of sections 67.1401 to 67.1571;

            (10) If the district is a political subdivision, to levy sales taxes pursuant to sections 67.1401 to 67.1571;

            (11) To fix, charge, and collect fees, rents, and other charges for use of any of the following:

            (a) The district's real property, except for public rights-of-way for utilities;

            (b) The district's personal property, except in a city not within a county; or

            (c) Any of the district's interests in such real or personal property, except for public rights-of-way for utilities;

            (12) To borrow money from any public or private source and issue obligations and provide security for the repayment of the same as provided in sections 67.1401 to 67.1571;

            (13) To loan money as provided in sections 67.1401 to 67.1571;

            (14) To make expenditures, create reserve funds, and use its revenues as necessary to carry out its powers or duties and the provisions and purposes of sections 67.1401 to 67.1571;

            (15) To enter into one or more agreements with the municipality for the purpose of abating any public nuisance within the boundaries of the district including, but not limited to, the stabilization, repair or maintenance or demolition and removal of buildings or structures, provided that the municipality has declared the existence of a public nuisance;

            (16) Within its boundaries, to provide assistance to or to construct, reconstruct, install, repair, maintain, and equip any of the following public improvements:

            (a) Pedestrian or shopping malls and plazas;

            (b) Parks, lawns, trees, and any other landscape;

            (c) Convention centers, arenas, aquariums, aviaries, and meeting facilities;

            (d) Sidewalks, streets, alleys, bridges, ramps, tunnels, overpasses and underpasses, traffic signs and signals, utilities, drainage, water, storm and sewer systems, and other site improvements;

            (e) Parking lots, garages, or other facilities;

            (f) Lakes, dams, and waterways;

            (g) Streetscape, lighting, benches or other seating furniture, trash receptacles, marquees, awnings, canopies, walls, and barriers;

            (h) Telephone and information booths, bus stop and other shelters, rest rooms, and kiosks;

            (i) Paintings, murals, display cases, sculptures, and fountains;

            (j) Music, news, and child-care facilities; and

            (k) Any other useful, necessary, or desired improvement;

            (17) To dedicate to the municipality, with the municipality's consent, streets, sidewalks, parks, and other real property and improvements located within its boundaries for public use;

            (18) Within its boundaries and with the municipality's consent, to prohibit or restrict vehicular and pedestrian traffic and vendors on streets, alleys, malls, bridges, ramps, sidewalks, and tunnels and to provide the means for access by emergency vehicles to or in such areas;

            (19) Within its boundaries, to operate or to contract for the provision of music, news, child-care, or parking facilities, and buses, minibuses, or other modes of transportation;

            (20) Within its boundaries, to lease space for sidewalk café tables and chairs;

            (21) Within its boundaries, to provide or contract for the provision of security personnel, equipment, or facilities for the protection of property and persons;

            (22) Within its boundaries, to provide or contract for cleaning, maintenance, and other services to public and private property;

            (23) To produce and promote any tourism, recreational or cultural activity or special event in the district by, but not limited to, advertising, decoration of any public place in the district, promotion of such activity and special events, and furnishing music in any public place;

            (24) To support business activity [and economic development in the district including, but not limited to, the promotion of business activity, development and retention, and the recruitment of developers and businesses], sustainable economic development, and revitalization, recruitment, expansion, and retention of businesses' and developers' training, internships, and creation of a skilled workforce to meet the needs of the business community and the district, and if the district is a political subdivision, to sponsor and operate a polytechnic institute for science, technology, and related educational specialties for grades kindergarten through twelve or any portion thereof for students residing within the polytechnic district which shall be the city or county that authorized the district; provided, that no local school district tax levies shall be used for the polytechnic institute and the polytechnic institute shall be under the department of elementary and secondary education's oversight and standards; and provided, that the polytechnic institute shall be governed by a board appointed by the district and consisting of at least seven members who shall serve for a term not to exceed four years and of which at least two members shall hold a valid Missouri certificate of license to teach for superintendents; and provided further, that admission slots into the polytechnic institute shall be equitably distributed throughout the polytechnic district based upon population;

            (25) To provide or support training programs for employees of businesses within the district;

            (26) To provide refuse collection and disposal services within the district;

            (27) To contract for or conduct economic, planning, marketing or other studies;

            (28) To repair, restore, or maintain any abandoned cemetery on public or private land within the district; and

            (29) To carry out any other powers set forth in sections 67.1401 to 67.1571.

            2. Each district which is located in a blighted area or which includes a blighted area shall have the following additional powers:

            (1) Within its blighted area, to contract with any private property owner to demolish and remove, renovate, reconstruct, or rehabilitate any building or structure owned by such private property owner; and

            (2) To expend its revenues or loan its revenues pursuant to a contract entered into pursuant to this subsection, provided that the governing body of the municipality has determined that the action to be taken pursuant to such contract is reasonably anticipated to remediate the blighting conditions and will serve a public purpose.

            3. Each district shall annually reimburse the municipality for the reasonable and actual expenses incurred by the municipality to establish such district and review annual budgets and reports of such district required to be submitted to the municipality; provided that, such annual reimbursement shall not exceed one and one-half percent of the revenues collected by the district in such year.

            4. Nothing in sections 67.1401 to 67.1571 shall be construed to delegate to any district any sovereign right of municipalities to promote order, safety, health, morals, and general welfare of the public, except those such police powers, if any, expressly delegated pursuant to sections 67.1401 to 67.1571.

            5. The governing body of the municipality establishing the district shall not decrease the level of publicly funded services in the district existing prior to the creation of the district or transfer the financial burden of providing the services to the district unless the services at the same time are decreased throughout the municipality, nor shall the governing body discriminate in the provision of the publicly funded services between areas included in such district and areas not so included.

            620.472. 1. The department shall establish a new or expanding industry training program, the purpose of which is to provide assistance for new or expanding industries for the training, retraining or upgrading of the skills of potential employees. Training may include preemployment training, and services may include analysis of the specified training needs for such company, development of training plans, and provision of training through qualified training staff. Such program may fund in-plant training analysis, curriculum development, assessment and preselection tools, publicity for the program, instructional services, rental of instructional facilities with necessary utilities, access to equipment and supplies, other necessary services, overall program direction, and an adequate staff to carry out an effective training program. In addition, the program may fund a coordinated transportation program for trainings if the training can be more effectively provided outside the community where the jobs are to be located. In-plant training analysis shall include fees for professionals and necessary travel and expenses. Such program may also provide assistance in the locating of skilled employees and in the locating of additional sources of job training funds. Such program shall be operated with appropriations made by the general assembly from the fund.

            2. Assistance under the new or expanding industry training program may be available only for industries whose investments relate directly to a projected increase in employment which will result in the need for training of newly hired employees or the retraining or upgrading of the skills of existing employees for new jobs created by the new or expanding industry's investment.

            3. The department shall issue rules and regulations governing the awarding of funds administered through the new or expanding industry training program. When promulgating these rules and regulations, the department shall consider such factors as the potential number of new permanent jobs to be created, the amount of private sector investment in new facilities and equipment, the significance of state funding to the industry's decision to locate or expand in Missouri, the economic need of the affected community, and the importance of the industry to the economic development of Missouri.