It’s only a small tax credit that backers say has a big impact on the environment and economy of Missouri. But even small tax credits are struggling in today’s legislature.
Some legislators advocating reform of the tax credit program that costs the state hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes never collected are not just zeroing in on the major credit programs. A three-million dollar program that has created businesses hauling away huge sawdust and scrap wood piles and the industries that turn that material into charcoal and wood pellets has developed a problem in the Senate.
Backers say the tax credit has helped Missouri become a state producing half of the charcoal in America. But Senator Dan Brown has trouble convincing Senator John Lamping of St. Louis that it should be restored.
The wood energy tax credit expired a year ago. Brown has not been able to get a vote on his bill reinstating it until 2020.