Schmitt explains job creation legislation

In his capitol report, Sen. Eric Schmitt- R-St. Louis County, outlines his legislation which is designed to put business back in the former Chrysler plant:

This week, a major snowstorm hit most of the Midwest, including Jefferson City. Committee meetings were cancelled due to weather and the unavailability of the public for testimony. With the winter weather limiting much of the work we would normally accomplish at the Capitol, I thought this might be a good time to discuss some of the legislation that I will be working on this year.


I am sponsoring Senate Bill 189 in an effort to encourage job creation at the site of the former Chrysler plant in Fenton. The bill would make changes to the existing Missouri Quality Jobs Act to make it easier for companies that might be interested in the site to utilize the program. The loss of the Chrysler plant left a hole in the regional economy, and we must encourage business expansion and development in this area immediately to stimulate job growth.

The site formerly occupied by Chrysler is 5 million square feet of auto production space plus an additional 2 million square feet of industrial manufacturing space. This site could be valuable to a variety of industries and the incentives are designed to be flexible and apply to any company within the requirements. The incentives would not be available to the company until the investment is made and jobs are created. The legislation allows the expanded incentives to continue until Oct. 31, 2014.

Another piece of legislation I am sponsoring this year is Senate Bill 108. The bill would extend a provision already in law that would otherwise expire. The 2009 International Residential Code would have mandated the installation of fire sprinklers in all newly constructed homes. Instead, the General Assembly passed a measure requiring home builders to offer buyers an option for the installation of fire sprinklers, allowing the consumer the choice to install or decline to install fire sprinkler systems. Senate Bill 108 would extend the current law until Dec. 31, 2019.

Before our work for the week came to an early end, we did meet in the Jobs, Economic Development, and Local Government Committee to pass Senate Bills 18 and 19. Both of these measures focus on job creation and economic development by limiting Missouri’s outdated corporate franchise tax. For more information on these measures, listen to my podcast from last week.

Work will resume as usual on Monday, Feb. 7. I will keep you up to date as these and other bills move forward in the legislative process.