SB 864: Omnibus Tax Credit Extensions
Sponsor: Jason Bean
OPPOSE
Entrenches subsidies & Omnibus structure
SB 864 rewrites a cluster of unrelated tax-credit statutes to remove sunset dates and keep targeted tax subsidies running indefinitely. It covers wood-energy producers, meat processing plants, ethanol, biodiesel, urban farms, and freight-rail rolling stock. In practice, it locks in special tax breaks for favored industries instead of simplifying the code.
What Does This Bill Do?
- Endless Energy Subsidies: Removes sunset dates for wood energy, ethanol, and biodiesel credits, locking the state into permanent fuel-market engineering.
- Corporate Welfare Extension: Makes investment tax credits for meat processing facilities and freight line rolling stock permanent, often reimbursing local losses with state funds.
- Ag & Urban Farm Loans: Continues low-interest loans and credits for urban farms and specialty crops, maintaining administrative overhead and agency discretion.
Constitutional or Critical Context
Functionally, this bill operates as an omnibus tax-credit "Christmas tree." By wrapping diverse programs—from urban farming to freight rail—under the vague title "relating to tax credits," it invites logrolling and prevents legislators from voting on these distinct issues on their own merits.
Red Flags & Recommended Amendments
Omnibus & Logrolling Structure
Bundles unrelated programs into one bill, blocking clean votes on each item and encouraging "must-pass" packaging of bad policies with good ones.
Permanent Corporate Subsidies
By deleting sunset clauses, this bill converts temporary programs into permanent structural features of the tax code, shifting long-term costs onto general taxpayers.
Act for Missouri Recommendation:
Act for Missouri opposes SB 864. It removes sunsets and entrenches multiple special-interest subsidies, expanding long-term government involvement in picking economic winners and losers. Furthermore, its omnibus structure violates the spirit of single-subject protections.