Flanigan: Bill reinforces state's commitment to Joplin

(A portion of the latest report from Rep. Tom Flanigan, R-Carthage, is devoted to HB 158, which he sponsored. The bill is designed to help Joplin with its recovery process.)

With resounding bi-partisan support, the Missouri House stood with Joplin in advancing my House Bill 158.  With 155 'yes' votes out of the 163-member body, the bill now moves to the Senate for further consideration.  To recap on the bill, which I laid out in last week's report, it will help in the following ways:

With approval from local governing officials, redevelopers are incentivized to build certain projects in certain areas - in this case those affected by the disaster.  A portion of the new tax revenue from sales and propert taxes that the local government would have received from the growth that this redevelopment causes is then diverted to help the developer cover some of the costs of construction. 

This legislation will add future state revenues to the mix, reinforcing the state's committment to Joplin.  The city and state benefits by the revitalization and the new tax revenue it receives from that revitalization, the developer benefits by having some of their risk mitigated, and the citizens benefit by having a faster redevelopment of the town.