Moving Legislation Forward

With just seven weeks remaining in the 2023 session, the Missouri Senate buckled down to move bills through the legislative process. Several bills I sponsored received hearings or were voted out of committee this week.

The Economic Development and Tax Policy Committee, which I chair, voted to advance my Senate Bill 413 to the full Senate for perfection. This legislation would establish the Missouri Angel Investment Act and could result in as much as $6 million in private capital flowing to new and growing businesses in our state each year. Angel investors, usually the first to lend their support to new businesses after friends and family contribute, could receive tax credits equal to 50% of their investment in qualified businesses. Investors in rural businesses could qualify for greater incentives.

Legislation I sponsored to exempt materials and equipment used to generate or transmit electricity from state sales tax also moved forward this week. The Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and Environment Committee voted to send Senate Bill 300 onto the full Senate.

Receiving a hearing this week, Senate Bill 519 would clarify provisions of an agriculture incentives bill passed during the 2022 extra legislative session and remove the annual limit on tax credits for the production of biodiesel fuels in Missouri. The Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee took testimony in support from the Missouri Farm Bureau and organizations representing soybean producers, cattlemen and the plant-based fuels industry. There were no witnesses in opposition to the bill.

 The Senate Appropriations Committee did not meet this week, but the committee will be hard at work as soon as the House budget bills arrive. I expect we’ll begin going through those line by line as early as next week. The budget passed by the House totals more than $45 billion. I’m as shocked as you are about the growth in government spending in Missouri, so you can be sure I’ll look for places to cut as the Senate takes up the House appropriations bills.

As always, I appreciate hearing your comments, opinions and concerns. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-4302. You may also email me at Denny.Hoskins@senate.mo.gov.