The Kansas City Business Journal reports on legislation recently filed by State Senator Ryan Silvey (R-Kansas City):
After more than 150 years of bad blood and lots of talk about ending the so-called economic development Border War, legislative action to end the competition between Missouri and Kansas is being introduced in Jefferson City.
On Wednesday, State Sen. Ryan Silvey, R-Kansas City, filed Senate Bill No. 635 [PDF], which would take the key ammunition used in courting business across the state line — tax breaks and direct financial support — away from Missouri legislators.
If the bill is enacted, jobs relocated from a Kansas border county — Johnson, Wyandotte, Miami or Douglas counties — to a Missouri border county will not qualify for state tax credits, retention of state withholding taxes or any direct state funding.
That bill will be considered during the General Assembly’s coming legislative session, which begins in January.
Gov. Jay Nixon made a splash in November when he announced his support for an immediate moratorium on the use of discretionary incentives, along with other measures, to attract business relocation. Members of the Republican Party on both sides of the state line have been hesitant to declare a cease-fire.
AIM president Ray McCarty responds:
“To stop using tax incentives on the Missouri side of the border amounts to a surrender in the “border war”. The State of Kansas has taken bold steps to create a better broad-based tax environment. Even if they agree to stop using incentive programs, they will still be more attractive to some companies that look at the bottom line tax liability, especially S Corporations that are completely free from Kansas income taxes.”
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