A Senate committee is considering a bill ( Senate Bill 274 ) to cut back on the issuance of tax credits through the Missouri Development Finance Board. Senator Jason Crowell of Cape Girardeau says the Board, which is made up of appointed officials, awards tax credits that would never be approved by the General Assembly.
Crowell says that while there is a $10-million annual cap on the issuance of tax credits, the cap can easily be exceeded if three members of the Board vote to do so. He wants a hard cap of $10-million. He adds he would like the Board to justify its very existence.
During his presentation to the Senate Committee on Governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight, Crowell expressed his concerns over the Historic Preservation Tax Credit, which he claims are taxpayer subsidies for house flipping.
He criticized lawmakers, including himself, for cutting social service expenditures during recent tough times, saying, "We were forced, in my humble opinion, to look toward social services. And, as someone that voted for that bill, I will publicly here today tell you that probably was not the wisest thing to do. We should have stood together and taken on the tax credit lobbyists."
The Committee is expected to vote, next week, whether to send the bill to the floor of the Senate for debate.