"Jobs Now will help Missouri build its physical and intellectual infrastructure to compete in this global economy," Holden said.
Holden signed Senate Bill 1155 at Florissant Valley Community College in St. Louis, Metropolitan Community Business and Technology College in Kansas City and at the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, noting that the new economic incentives will benefit both community colleges and businesses.
"With this new law, businesses will be able to increase their use of community college resources to train and retrain workers, thereby assisting Missouri workers in obtaining the skills they need to keep pace with technology, and helping businesses who invest in new technology," Holden said. "This portion of the law has an added benefit as it helps our community colleges better connect with the needs of the business community."
The Jobs Now legislation, which was sponsored by Sen. Jim Mathewson and Rep. Tom Dempsey, allows use of $15 million dollars to help retrain existing workers by advancing their skills to keep up with technology upgrades by their employer. A company must have maintained at least 100 employees during the two years prior to being in the program. A company also has to make a capital investment in long-term assets at the project location, such as buildings or equipment, in an amount of at least $1 million to be eligible for retraining assistance.
In addition, Jobs Now provides up to $12 million to cities and counties for grants, or low or no-interest loans for public infrastruture projects. "These will primarily be construction related projects that can help jump-start a local economy. Construction jobs are always jobs now," Holden said. Communities seeking grants or loans must apply to the Missouri Development Finance Board and the Jobs Now Recommendation Committee, comprised of representatives of various state agencies.
Jobs Now also calls for enhanced Enterprise Zones to allow more Missouri communities the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a growing Missouri economy. With Jobs Now, communities with low-income residents and high unemployment will have the opportunity to offer tax incentives to businesses wanting to locate or expand in those areas. Special eligibility considerations exist for counties with declining population or in areas affected by a natural disaster. In addition to local property tax abatement, businesses may be eligible to receive refundable state tax credits.
Before establishing an Enhanced Enterprise Zone, a city or county must create a board of citizens to advise it, and school districts must be represented on the board. Enhanced Enterprise Zones are to be designated by the Department of Economic Development, after application from a city or county. There is no limit on the number of zones.
Jobs Now will also increase the annual cap from $11 million to $15 million for the BUILD program which is designed to offer incentives to projects with over 100 new manufacturing jobs or 500 office jobs.
Jobs Now also calls for the repeal of inefficient and ineffective tax credit programs and allows the use of the savings to fund the Jobs Now package.
"This bill is revenue neutral and allows us to get the best bang for the taxpayers' buck," Holden said. "Like tax loopholes, tax credits need continuous review and re-evaluation to determine if they still serve the purpose for which they are intended and if those purposes are still sound economic policy."
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