JEFFERSON CITY — State lawmakers, with the backing of Ƶ business groups, are hoping to join an expensive rush of states trying to lure multibillion-dollar megaprojects to Missouri.
Legislation pending in the House would create what could become a $1 billion incentive program aimed at bringing microchip, electric vehicle and battery projects to the state.
The move mirrors plans in place in Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas that have committed to spending big dollars to attract the new projects.
Under the plan sponsored by Rep. Brad Christ, a Ƶ County Republican, the payouts to qualifying companies would be capped at $200 million per year over five years.
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Companies would have to plan to spend $1 billion on developing the factory with a minimum of 500 new jobs. Of those jobs, 150 must go to full-time residents of Missouri.
“Missouri is being outpaced by peer states in the recruitment of advanced manufacturing megaprojects,” said Greater Ƶ Inc., one of the organizations lobbying for the plan.
While other states have made billion-dollar pledges for microchip plants and other newer industries, Greater Ƶ puts Missouri’s incentives for manufacturers at $63 million in 2020, the most recent year available.
The measure needs one more vote in the House before it moves to the Senate for further deliberation. It is not clear if the proposal will make it through the often fractious upper chamber this year with just a month left in the Legislature’s annual session.
In arguing for its passage, Christ said the Missouri plan could help bring companies operating overseas back to the United States. Pandemic-related supply chain issues have also pushed companies to look at relocating to the states.
Along with state-level incentive packages, President Joe Biden last year signed off on federal subsidies designed to encourage companies to produce electric vehicles, EV batteries, and computer chips domestically.
As a case in point, Greater Ƶ pointed to Ohio, which approved a similar program of incentives after being passed over for other large projects. In 2022, Columbus was selected as the site for chipmaker Intel’s new factory. The project could create 3,000 jobs.
“While Missouri has made strides in advanced manufacturing in recent years, it is not keeping pace with surrounding states,” the organization said in an issue paper distributed to lawmakers.
During an earlier committee hearing, University of Missouri-Ƶ Vice Chancellor Christopher Spilling said the incentives would go hand-in-hand with efforts on the campus to develop “innovation districts” that will become homes for companies engaged in advanced manufacturing.
“Incentives that target business recruitment are on the critical path to success,” Spilling wrote.
Gov. Mike Parson, in his final year in office, has requested $10 million in the upcoming budget to invest in research that could bring semiconductor manufacturing to the state.
He also is seeking $5.4 million to study the state’s supply of minerals that are critical to computer chip manufacturing.
The legislation is Hous