Dec 8 – Weekly Capitol Update

LAWSUIT CHALLENGES VALIDITY OF TECH INCENTIVES LAW

The Missouri Roundtable for Life and Missouri Right to Life filed a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court on Dec. 1 challenging the validity of a new law creating the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act. The General Assembly passed the MOSIRA measure, which offers state tax incentive to science and technology companies, during its recent special legislative session.

The lawsuit had been expected because the MOSIRA bill, SB 7, contained a provision that said it wouldn’t take effect unless lawmakers also enacted a larger job creation and tax credit reform bill, SB 8, that had been the primary reason for the special session. Both the Senate and House of Representatives passed SB 8 but in radically different forms, and the two chambers were unable to negotiate a compromise.

When he signed SB 7 into law, Gov. Jay Nixon said his administration would proceed with its implementation despite the failure of SB 8, noting that the Missouri Supreme Court has ruled some past contingency clauses unenforceable. Pro-life groups oppose MOSIRA because they fear it could potentially be used to subsidize companies engaged in embryonic stem cell research.

PSC TO CONSIDER DROPPING ITS NEW ETHICS RULES

The Missouri Public Service Commission is considering repealing new ethics rules it adopted last year that prohibit commissioners from meeting privately with executives of the utility companies that they regulate, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Dec. 13. PSC staffers say the rules have proved unworkable, but consumer groups they are necessary to protect the public interest and ensure fairness in the regulatory process.

The five-member PSC is a quasi-judicial panel that sets rates and determines other regulatory issues related to investor-owned utility companies. The PSC adopted the new ethics rules in the wake of media reports about secret meetings some commissioners had with utility executives concerning regulatory cases their companies had pending before the PSC. Under a proposed revision to the rule, commissioners would be allowed to meet privately with utility officials, but those meetings would have to be disclosed.

STATE REVENUE COLLECTIONS UP SLIGHTLY IN NOVEMBER

Net state general revenue collections increased 2.5 percent in November 2011 compared to November 2010, going from $569.5 million to $583.6 million. Year-to-date collections for the first five months of the 2012 fiscal year were up 2 percent compared to the same period in FY 2011, going from $2.78 billion last year to $2.84 billion this year.

GOVERNOR NOT SUPPORTIVE OF I-70 TOLL PROPOSAL

Gov. Jay Nixon indicated he doesn’t support, at least in the short term, the Missouri Department of Transportation’s proposal to rebuild Interstate 70 as a toll road, The Associated Press reported on Dec. 3. Nixon told the AP that converting the state’s main east-west highway into a toll road would be a “substantial change” that would require “broad consensus” among members of the public and the General Assembly and said the plan isn’t on his immediate agenda.

MoDOT officials recently announced plans to seek legislative approval of the toll plan during the 2012 legislative session. Under the plan, MoDOT would lease I-70 to a private company that would pay for the reconstruction and then operate the highway as a toll road to recover its investment. The idea, however, received a lukewarm response when presented to the Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight in November.

GAMING PANEL RELAXES BAN ON PROBLEM GAMBLERS

The Missouri Gaming Commission on Dec. 7 unanimously voted to relax the rule that prohibits self-identified problem gamblers from entry into Missouri casinos. Under the old rule, people who signed up for the voluntary exclusion program were banned from Missouri casinos for life.

Under the new rule, people on the banned list could opt to be removed from it after five years. Those who dropped out of the program could later rejoin it, but a lifetime ban would then apply. According to the Gaming Commission, 16,148 people are on the self-exclusion list and 11,427 would be eligible to be removed from the banned list as of March 31.

Category: Weekly Capitol Update