Incentives to lure business to Missouri or entice businesses to expand here move forward in the House.

Preliminary approval has been given to a bill that tweaks the Quality Jobs, Enhanced Enterprise Zone and New Jobs Training programs. Sponsor Ron Richard (R-Joplin) recites a number of jobs those programs have already created and tells members he doubts they would have been created without the incentives the state offers. But Richard argues to lure the big fish; the state must be able to sweeten the incentives it offers. His bill, HCS HB 327 , takes the current caps off the program. The Quality Jobs Program has a cap of $12 million a year. The Enhanced Enterprise Zone Program has a $7 million cap. Richard says the economic stimulus sparked by the enhancements will more than make up for the lost tax revenue.

An amendment has been added to the bill that would deny tax breaks to businesses knowingly hiring illegal immigrants. Another positive vote in the House sends the bill to the Senate.

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