Mo. House approves tax credit for state-made vehicles

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- For the third straight year, the House has approved a tax break for those who buy vehicles made in Missouri.

The House gave first-round approval Tuesday to a bill creating a tax credit equal to the state sales tax for cars, trucks, vans and motorcycles manufactured in Missouri. It needs another vote to move to the Senate, which has killed the measure the last two years.

Legislative staff estimate that the tax break would cost about $8.7 million per year and apply to around 12,000 purchases.

Bill supporters said giving consumers a tax incentive to buy vehicles made in the state would encourage people to buy more of them and could help protect auto jobs.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Michael Spreng, whose district includes the Ford Motor Company's now-shuttered St. Louis Assembly Plant in Hazelwood. Spreng, D-Florissant, said the state has lost 4,000 manufacturing jobs in car industry in recent years.

But critics argue that there's a certain cost to state coffers and uncertain benefit to economic growth. They also question whether the incentive would affect automakers' decisions about where to locate and operate manufacturing plants.

A Department of Economic Development study in 2006 estimates Missouri's vehicle plants employed 16,000 workers, created an additional 54,000 jobs, paid $236 million in state taxes and accounted for almost 3 percent of the state economy.

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Vehicle tax break is HB1981

On the Net:

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov