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Economic Development
Quality Jobs and Enhanced
Enterprise Zones
We thank the legislators for their diligence
in the enhancement of the Quality Jobs and
EEZ programs; we appreciate their efforts
to expand these economic development growth
tools for the State.
Economic Development Tax
Credits
We support the expansion of proven tax credits
that leverage private investment and stimulate
employment and economic growth for our region.
We support the exploration of an incentive
to encourage Missouri businesses to attract
their supplier(s) (and the associated jobs
and economic activity) to locate or expand
in Missouri.
Job Training
We support restoration and enhancement of
state appropriations for job training and
exploration of avenues to make programs more
accessible.
Encourage Local Economic
Development Activity
We encourage the State to support local Economic
Development Organizations, which actively
participate in economic development needs
best served at the local level.
Business Retention and Expansion
We lend support to potential DED retention
enhancement and the addition of a commission
that would decide when retention incentives
should be offered to a particular Missouri
company. The commission membership should
include well-qualified organizations such
as MEDC and others who support economic development
initiatives.
Entrepreneurial and Small
Businesses
We encourage policies that further stimulate
the growth of these critical sectors and encourage
the State to work with organizations that
support economic development initiatives in
these areas.
Redevelopment
We support initiatives to spur redevelopment
efforts in economically distressed areas,
such as increasing direct funding and tax
credits for Brownfield cleanup and enact meaningful
liability reform for Brownfield sites to encourage
their turnover to a productive use.
Education
Funding
We support appropriations for public schools
sufficient to fully fund the Foundation Formula
and categorical programs, and support reducing
the number of years to phase in the full funding
of the new Formula. We support equitable funding
of educational facilities. We oppose further
mandating of programs until all current programs
are fully funded. Unfunded mandates place
an unnecessary burden upon school districts.
We support legislation mandating accurate
property assessments.
We support legislation to offer
greater financial assistance to local education
agencies to improve the quality of and access
to pre-kindergarten education programs for
all students. We also endorse the consolidation
of responsibility for early childhood education
programs to the Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education. We support continuing
and expanding the "Parents as Teachers" program.
We oppose voucher, tuition tax
credits or any other program, which would
divert public funding into private institutions
and be detrimental to our public school systems.
We support local school districts
having a voice on governing commissions that
grant tax abatements.
Autonomy
We support the local autonomy of school districts.
Local school districts are in the best position
to determine the most effective use of funds
and other resources. We oppose any effort
to impose new restrictions upon the authority
of local school districts. We do not support
legislation that would erode local control
of public schools and destroy teachers' associations.
We do not support legislation that fails to
support libraries, teacher training, health
services, transportation, or school support
staff. The State should not override the fiscal
oversight of our local Boards of Education
for spending of local tax dollars.
Higher Education
We support an increase in higher education
core operating budgets of at least 12 percent
in 2010, with an increase of four percent
in 2008. St. Louis Community College at Florissant
Valley and the University of Missouri-St.
Louis play a vital role in the vitality and
economic development of our area. Our region
is heavily involved in developing and attracting
Plant and Life Science companies, expanding
manufacturing and engineering interests. Higher
education, through its training programs,
has been an important partner in these efforts.
We support increased funding
for UMSL to correct system-wide equity issues.
We support a State funding formula for the
University of Missouri-St. Louis that is relative
to other public campuses and reflects the
importance of the St. Louis region on the
State's economy. We support funding for the
continued implementation of the campus master
plan toward the completion of the Business,
Technology and Research Park.
We support capital funding for
maintenance and repair of buildings and equipment
for St. Louis Community Colleges.
Healthcare
Medicaid
We thank the legislators for extending the
sunset of the Medicaid program to allow for
the creation of a new program that will provide
a safety net for those who cannot afford health
insurance.
MoHealthNet
This public/private partnership must maintain
the safety net for those who cannot afford
health insurance, such as those with pre-existing
conditions who are ineligible for health insurance,
the disabled and mental health parity. The
program should adequately reimburse health
providers, including dentists, as this would
increase access to care with more physicians
willing to accept recipients. The availability
of primary care physicians to this population
will promote preventive and long-term care,
thus alleviating the use of hospital emergency
rooms for non-emergency care. Long-term, this
would create a "healthier state."
We support adequate state funding
for MoHealthNet to enhance the capture of
available federal matching funds. Healthcare
Continued
Adult Outpatient Therapy
We support the restoration of funding for
adult outpatient therapies. State FY2006 budget
removed from Medicaid all funding for adult
outpatient therapies. We ask that funds be
restored for the balance of the State FY2008
through a supplemental appropriation and the
State FY 2009 through a regular appropriation.
Without outpatient therapy, many people are
unable to restore their quality of life, mobility
and independence.
Certificate of Need
We oppose repealing the Certificate of Need
for new hospitals, which encourages niche
providers who only serve a limited segment
of the medical market focusing on the most
profitable services, such as uncomplicated
outpatient surgeries for individuals with
insurance, medical imaging, etc. Niche providers
focus on only the most profitable hospital
services, and they attack hospitals' major
revenue streams, making it difficult for hospitals
to sustain other critical but unprofitable
services, such as emergency rooms and trauma
centers.
Trauma Centers
We support additional funding for trauma centers
to maintain high-quality health care services
for North St. Louis County.
Health Care Coverage
We support pooled-purchasing associations
to offer self-insured coverage under ERISA
to small businesses, individuals, the self-employed
and municipalities. We support tax deductions
for individuals who pay their own health insurance
premiums.
Transportation
Funding
We support fair and equitable distribution
of transportation funding and encourage the
consideration of economic development and
job creation impact when funding future projects.
We urge legislators and State agencies to
continue the emphasis on maintenance of existing
infrastructure. We oppose efforts to redistribute
money away from the St. Louis region.
We support the State exploring
ways to increase funding for Missouri's transportation
system and advance a sustainable plan to increase
transportation projects in the St. Louis region.
We support maintaining St. Louis
representation on the Missouri Highways and
Transportation Commission.
We support a dedicated, reasonable
and equitable source of State funding for
multi-modal forms of transportation.
We support various forms of
user fees be considered as one source of new
transportation funding. We oppose a statewide
sales tax for the Transportation Department,
as many highway users would not pay anywhere
close to a fair share of this tax.
General Issues
TABOR
We oppose TABOR or a "Taxpayers Bill of Rights"
due to the harm it would cause to our schools,
shifting of burden to local level and loss
of federal money and decrease in business
growth, which may occur if legislation such
as this is enacted. With Hancock in place
limiting the amount state government can grow
to a percentage of personal income growth
and Hancock III requiring a vote of the people
for significant tax increases, it is unnecessary
to have TABOR.
Predatory Lending
We condemn predatory lending practices, which
have created an increase in home foreclosures.
These practices include loans at excessive
rates of interest; loans that are difficult
to repay because of added fees, balloon pay-off
requirements and 'flipping' refinancing practices,
which strip homeowners of their equity; payday
loans', misleading sales practices or other
predatory practices. Small businesses in our
region will thrive only if their customer
bases are not overwhelmed by increasing mortgage
loan balances, monthly payments and bankruptcies.
Property Tax Statement
We support providing tax relief based upon
a combination of income and tax liability.
We support the State simplify the Missouri
Property Tax Credit (Circuit Breaker) program
that offers relief to low to moderate-income
seniors. We support an expansion of the income
limit to increase access to this program,
at least adjusting program for inflation;
the State should allocate funds to make up
any local or school district losses that may
occur due to program enhancement.
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