The Special Session That Shouldn't Have Been

The 1st Extraordinary Session of the 95th Missouri General Assembly continues to linger in the vacant halls of the State Capitol, a session that has brought about some of the most desperate twists in principle by some to ensure the state's economic viability, and conversely the most desperate twists in the state's economic viability to ensure others' principles.

As we speak, a gaggle of staunch conservative senators are in the twelfth hour of a filibuster aimed at killing off a bill laden with incentives to convince Ford to retain two production lines at their plant in Claycomo. Their hope is to put to an end the practice of granting tax credits to practically everything that moves an inch in the state, which they believe is a major reason why Missouri continues to face growing revenue shortfalls.

Which won't get any better if 3700 people in Kansas City's Northland are indefinitely furloughed when Ford relocates their Escape & Escape Hybrid lines to another state.

As it stands, these jobs are gone in a year, off to Kentucky, and with it a large chunk of revenue from Clay County's largest private employer. Revenue that goes into maintaining roads in unincorporated areas of the county, North Kansas City and Liberty schools, and practically keep the village of Claycomo on the map. And even if this bill passes, there is no guarantee that Ford will bring a new model to Claycomo to replace the Escape.

There is, however, an even greater chance of 3700 Missourians being out of a job if it doesn't pass, all in the name of the ideal of free enterprise and small government. Now yes, a large chunk of affected workers can and probably will find a replacement job, but it's very unlikely that such jobs will pay the same. And yes, it might show a growing consumer consciousness for fuel-efficient and clean energy vehicles, like electric fleet vehicles now being manufactured by Smith Electric in neighboring Platte County. But in the short term, this loss will all but ensure a double-dip recession in many areas of Northwest Missouri, as the area adapts to find new jobs and revenue.

Jobs, revenue, impact, and critical specifics that has seen nary a mention in any of the three weeks of debate and political pandering. Instead it's been the need to pass it, the political means to do so, and the opposition from those who see the concept of government intervention at any level as the biggest problem to economic growth and not a possible agent of support.

The bill, should this filibuster come to a close, will likely pass, as Senate leaders say they have enough votes to pass it back to the House, where it will likely receive another round of yeas before landing on Governor Nixon's desk. How it got there, though, is another string of arm-wringing disappointment.

To ensure the rapid passage of the bill through the House, Speaker Ron Richard—comfortably on his way to the State Senate with no challenger in his bid to represent Joplin—wasted no time in pulling from committees two house members who did not express vehement support. Speaker Pro Tem Bryan Pratt of Eastern Jackson County was removed from the Rules Committee after he called it a "bail out bill". Within a day, another Jackson County representative, Will Kraus of Lee's Summit, was removed from the Job Creation and Economic Development Committee after he stated he would prefer to hear both sides of the issue before casting his both. Both Pratt & Kraus were among the 19 nay votes on the bill the House advanced to the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Charlie Shields of St. Joseph waited until this week to remove Howell County's Senator Chuck Purgason from the Government Oversight and Fiscal Accountability committee. Purgason, under his purview as chairman of the committee, refused to bring the bill up for discussion, also referring to it as a bailout and suggesting that Missouri "sucks at economic development." Purgason suggests that to spur economic development, Missourians should instead dump income taxes and instead charge a higher sales tax to ensure revenue neutrality. Problem with that, though, is that unless it's enacted at the national level, a large chunk of Missourians could drive across the state line and take advantage of what would then be a reasonable sales tax rates in Bentonville, Quincy, and Overland Park, with Missourians nowhere near the border either stuck holding up the bulk of Missouri's revenue burden or renting a U-Haul on a regular basis to hoard up on necessities.

So now we have a filibuster that's stretched into 12 hours, to prevent a bill to possibly save 3700 jobs in the hopes of possibly saving more businesses. Well, one thing's for sure: the bill could have had more teeth. HB2 is a more specific version of House Bill 1675, also sponsored by Gladstone Republican Jerry Nolte. Nolte's original bill would have applied to any industrial manufacturer in the state, be it automotive, chemical, electrical, etc. Because this bill stalled in a Senate committee over the same ideological concerns (on top of issues legislators believed to be more pressing, like changing I-70's name in St. Louis back to the Mark Twain Expressway), Nolte asked the governor to call a special session.

The governor's call specifically addressed the Claycomo plant. As a result, Nolte's bill could technically not be as broad as it was. Thus, the current version on the Senate floor would only apply to manufacturers classified by the U.S. Census Bureau as "Automobile and Light Duty Motor Vehicle Manufacturing". (Interesting enough, according to the Census' 1997 figures, Missouri produced more goods in this category, in terms of dollar value, than all states not named Michigan.) The House attempted to saddle tax credits for senior citizens who own their own home and companies who create information technology jobs, but these were stricken by an earlier Senate committee who said they were outside the Governor's parameters for the special session.

So now, as Ford figures out whether it's still worth it to keep operating the plant they built 60 years ago on land which once was the residence of TWA's Jack Frye and site of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh's honeymoon, state Republicans squabble with other state Republicans and Kansas City area reps squabble with other Kansas City area reps over the future of one of their most critical economic engines, all over ideological principles.

All the while, 3700 families continue to dread next year when they will need to go thumbing through the help wanted section, trying to find anything that will keep food on the table, much-needed medication in the cabinet, and their kids' fragile college savings viable. And this is where the focus should always have been. For that reason, this session has been one colossal farce played out by the General Assembly and the Governor. And it will be the families affected by this line's relocation—Claycomo's assembly workers, employees of suppliers across the state, eating establishments whose core clientele will evaporate, special education students who can't get the specialized attention they need during the school day because of even tighter budget constraints—who will feel the most pain from this farce of a session.

It isn't Ford who needs the bailout; it's these families, and at the end of the day, it's what the bill in question should truly be about. It's giving Missouri a chance to preserve these jobs and retain a sizable economic engine at a time when no one can risk a double-dip recession.