Senators seek consensus ahead of special session

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The man who led the filibuster during last year's special session of the Missouri Legislature isn't preparing to hold up the show this time around.

In fact, Sen. Chuck Purgason, R-Caulfield, sounds downright optimistic about the proposed $1.5 billion economic development and tax-credit reform bill at the heart of the session which is scheduled to start following the Labor Day weekend.

"Hopefully, through the legislative process, we can act like adults and protect everyone's interest, including the taxpayer who just wants to be left alone, and we can come out of here with a good piece of legislation," Purgason said.

The chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee just wrapped up the latest in a series of legislative study sessions he has led heading into the special session. He wants to build consensus ahead of what some say may be a contentious session aimed at stimulating job growth, which creates a number of new tax credits while eliminating other programs.

Among the more controversial provisions in the bill is a plan to do away with the circuit breaker program for senior and low-income disabled people who rent. Doing away with that program would net the state $800 million over 15 years. Purgason said the senate's original plan was for a like amount of tax credits to be done away with over the same 15 year period.

Somewhere along the line, Purgason said the requirement went away and the package as it now sits includes about $300 million in tax credit reductions. Purgason said the balance will have to change.

"That's been one of the big concerns, moving money away from poor people to developers," Purgason said. "Hopefully through the process we can get those numbers to come a little bit closer together."

He said at this point, numbers on the tax credit reform side and the circuit breaker side of the equation are fluid.

Purgason is putting his faith in the legislative process to forge a compromise piece of legislation. Others aren't so sure. Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, has been vocal in his opposition to the job creation package in its current form. He has written that it is another give away to big city political supporters.

"Senate and House Leadership spent the month of July in a backroom in St. Louis cutting a deal that is short on economic development, short on tax credit reform, but long on government handouts to special interests, creating a larger budget deficit that prevents us from funding priorities like education," Crowell wrote in an open letter to constituents and others last week. "And Governor Nixon has yielded to this deal, endorsed it, and is doing his part."       

Crowell has stated before that he was willing to use Senate procedures to shut down debate on the package. Purgason said he understands Crowell's position. He said some tax credit programs grow under the economic development package, while some caps were raised.

"This is a big concern, especially with legislators from rural areas, where money is being moved away from constituents in rural areas to fund developers in rural areas," Purgason said. "Hopefully through the process, those numbers can come out a little more equally so that we can get back to a more shared sacrifice between tax credits and circuit breaker."

The legislature will open its session at noon on Tuesday, but the first legislative action will actually not occur until the bills that will be taken up during the session are sent to committees. The earliest those hearings could take place is Thursday. The House of Representatives will work on the economic development package first with a debate on the House floor occurring Friday with likely first-round approval following. The House could then suspend rules and proceed with a final vote also on Friday, or wait until the following week to send the bill to the Senate.