Kelley: Special & Veto Session Cap Report

The Missouri Constitution requires that, each year, the legislature convene a ‘Veto Session’ in September. The purpose of the session is for the legislature to consider overriding any bills that were vetoed by the Governor. However, this year will be unlike any other veto session as the legislature will also return to hold a special session concurrent with this year’s veto session.

The purpose of the special session, which was called by Governor Nixon, will be to pass a number of important bills. Most importantly, though, the legislature will consider a major job creation proposal that will help revamp our state’s economic incentives and create tens of thousands of new, family-supporting jobs.

The bill [SB2], which has received broad support from both Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate, will be an important step in getting Missouri’s economy moving again. The major provisions of the innovative jobs package are incentives that will help create high-tech jobs, attract amateur sporting events, spur the creation of data centers throughout the state, and bring tens of thousands of new jobs to the state by making the St. Louis Airport an international cargo hub for trade.

In addition to creating these new incentives, the state will overhaul the existing incentive programs that we currently use. These changes could create a savings over 1.5 billion dollars over the next fifteen years that can be used for other important priorities such as education. The jobs package will also create new accountability measures that will include periodic review of these programs and sunset dates that will end the programs if not renewed by the legislature.

While this major jobs package will help jumpstart our state’s economy and create the kind of jobs our state so desperately needs right now, we will also consider a number of other important bills during the special session. The bills will:

• Change the date of Missouri’s Presidential Primary in 2012 to comply with rules established by the national parties to ensure our state does not lose delegate representation at the nominating conventions [HB3]
  
• Create a tax amnesty program that allows forgiveness of penalties on delinquent taxes in exchange for paying all back taxes and remaining up-to-date on taxes in the future [HB4]
  
• End state control of the St. Louis Police Department that began during the Civil War by returning it to the City of St. Louis [HB1]