The Missouri Senate spent several hours Tuesday night working on a wide-ranging tax credit bill, which they gave first-round approval to around 3:30 this morning Wednesday. The bill would drastically cut incentives for Historic Preservation and low income housing.
Historic Preservation tax credits would be capped at $45 million a year, instead of the current $140 million, and low income Housing incentives would be capped at $50 million a year. Democrats Jamilah Nasheed of St. Louis and Kiki Curls of Kansas City criticized the move.
"What we're trying to do is a slap in the face to Ronald Reagan - you might as well just slap him twice!” Nasheed said. “The man that so many of the Republicans cherish was the man that cultivated and established this program."
The bill would also create a freight forward tax credit for all airports in Missouri, not just Lambert International in St. Louis. The bill is sponsored by Republican Senator Eric Schmitt of St. Louis County.
"Tax credit reform and finding a way forward on economic development for our state has been clearly identified for a long time as a priority,” Schmitt said. “And so it's something that we wanted to work on early, it's February, and I think everybody was committed to that. Everybody wanted to work together."
The measure needs one more vote before moving to the Missouri House.
