Tax credits could still stimulate new jobs in Missouri

Quality Jobs is an incentive program that gives tax credits to qualifying Missouri companies that create new jobs. The program was started in 2005 when Matt Blunt was governor. The current governor, Jay Nixon, is including Quality Jobs in his emergency Show Me Jobs plan and wants to remove the cap on the tax-credit program.

As the Missouri Legislature considers Governor Nixon's plan, there is a bit of a dustup over how the Quality Jobs program is portrayed. Politicians from both political parties -- including some legislators from Southeast Missouri -- routinely point to the success of the new-jobs initiative by claiming it has resulted in 22,000 new jobs in the state.

But as reported recently by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that isn't accurate. The program had the potential of creating 22,000 jobs, but in fact it resulted in 2,373 jobs. Companies that had planned to use the tax credits as they expanded found themselves putting off those plans as the economy soured.

Some critics say Quality Jobs hasn't turned out the way it was promoted. They are right to call attention to the misleading claims that the program created 22,000 jobs. However, the nearly 2,400 jobs attributed to the program shouldn't be tossed off lightly. Creating any jobs nowadays is a significant achievement.

The Quality Jobs tax credits are issued only when a job is created. As a result, the cost of the program so far has been nominal. If the program can spur more jobs -- especially in the face of higher federal taxes proposed by President Obama -- then it still may do some good.

Tax credits in Missouri are under scrutiny. State Sen. Jason Crowell of Cape Girardeau is concerned the state may be spreading too many credits across a number of programs (see his op-ed column below). Any tax credit should be measured by how much good it does for the state's overall economy. Quality Jobs may be more useful now than ever as a spark to improve the state's job situation.