House Passes Quality Jobs Act

The House has approved Governor Matt Blunt’s Missouri Quality Jobs Act, which is designed to attract new companies to the State and to encourage exusting businesses to stay here and to expand. The plan would offer employers a rebate on part of the money spent to create new jobs. In order to qualify for the programs, employers would have to meet certain requirements, including offering basic health insurance for new employees in new jobs and paying at least 50 percent of health insurance premiums. New jobs created would also have to be at or above the county average wage. In addition to the rebate, the legislation expands on a popular tax credit program that has been used to keep the Ford Hazelwood plant up and running. The bill now goes to a House-Senate conference in which differences in the two chambers’ versions of the legislation will be ironed out.