INDUSTRY GROUP TO OPPOSE CAMPAIGN FUNDING

JACKSON -- An initiative petition that would increase the corporate franchise tax to finance election campaigns and a Sierra Club lawsuit that could cost the state federal highway funds are two issues that should concern business interests during the next state legislative session, says Brian Fawks, director of governmental affairs for Associated Industries of Missouri.

Fawks was the keynote speaker Thursday at the annual Manufacturers' Appreciation Banquet at Enchanted Gardens. The dinner was attended by about 100 people representing city manufacturers, bankers, elected officials and school administrators.

Among those present were state Rep. David Schwab, R-Jackson; State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau; Jackson Mayor Paul Sander and City Administrator Steve Wilson; representatives of Lee-Rowan and Procter & Gamble; along with Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association.

A former Missouri Senate staffer, Fawks works for an industry association that has 1,500 members and has existed since 1919. He said the organization will work against both the campaign financing petition and the Sierra Club lawsuit. This year, the association lobbied successfully for a cut in the corporate franchise tax and does not want to see that work undone by a proposal it doesn't think is worthy. The Sierra Club suit against the EPA seeks to withhold $600 million in federal highway funds from the state because of poor air quality in the St. Louis area."We are attempting to intervene in that lawsuit," Fawks said.

A Clinton administration proposal to pay for family medical leave through the unemployment benefits system also will be opposed by the industry association.

Among other recent legislative successes, Fawks listed a sales tax exemption on replacement parts for manufacturers, immunity for employers responding to requests for employee references, and a bill that requires state agencies to show that their rules are promulgated on statutes.

He said they also have fought against health care mandates. "We try very hard each session to beat back these mandates," Fawks said, reasoning that they drive up health care costs.

Consolidation of employer payments going for child support and of job training programs have been other victories, he said.

Fawks said working with coming legislative sessions will be very different as term limits begin kicking in in full force. "It's going to have a dramatic effect on how the Legislature does business," he said.

Jackson's 100-year-old minister, the Rev. Walter Keisker, gave the invocation and benediction and entertained the gathering with the reminiscences about Jackson's manufacturing past and a time when the city was so small that when someone stopped to ask him for directions he just took them there."It was faster," Keisker said.