SB 471 - This act modifies the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Fund. Under current law, the General Assembly may appropriate funds to the STEM Fund to match institution funds to support specified programs. The act allows the General Assembly to choose not to earmark funds and instead allow the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to support certain programs as specified in the act.
Any taxpayer who hires a student majoring in a field of study related to STEM, or a graduate of such field of study, to fill an internship or full-time position may apply to have up to five thousand dollars of the taxpayer's state tax liability removed from the general revenue fund and placed in the STEM Fund. No more than $50,000 may be annually moved from the general revenue fund to the STEM Fund. The student must be enrolled at, or have graduated from, a two-year or four-year public or private Missouri college or university.
The internship or full-time position must be located in Missouri and internships must last for a duration of one year and consist of at least forty hours of work per week.
This act is similar to HB 1135 (2017) and contains provisions similar to HCS/SB 873 (2016), SCS/SB 268 (2015), SB 207 (2015), and HCS/HB 520 (2015).
JAMIE ANDREWS