Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry
2007 Legislative Agenda

• Asbestos litigation reform
  Asbestos lawsuits have bankrupted over 85 companies, and the vast majority of recent claimants are not sick. A federal judge found massive fraud in recent silica filings. The Missouri Chamber will work toward comprehensive asbestos and silica medical criteria reform that guarantees an injured party’s rights are protected while preventing unwarranted claims that are currently putting companies out of business and limiting recovery of funds for those truly suffering from asbestos-related and silica-related illnesses.
• Enforcement of seat belt regulations
  While working to create a primary seat belt law in Missouri, the Missouri Chamber will continue to require individuals to accept responsibility for their acts. In Missouri, it is impermissible to introduce evidence that an automobile driver or passenger was not wearing a seat belt when injured in an automobile accident, and that the failure to act created or exacerbated the injuries caused. The Missouri Chamber will advocate for changes in the law to allow a defendant to show that a plaintiff’s injuries resulted or were worsened by the plaintiff’s decision to not wear a seat belt.
• Protect employers from third party liability
  Missouri employers continue to be the subject of unfair litigation that focuses on actions that occurred on their property, but were outside their control.  The Missouri Chamber will work to ensure that when a criminal act is committed on the property of an employer who has taken reasonable safety measures, the employer will not be held responsible for the illegal activities committed by a third party.
• Improve the employer reference process
  Missouri’s employers should have the right to give honest and relevant references and referrals for current or former employees without the fear of retribution.  Missouri law currently does not offer civil liability protection to employers who provide factual information to future employers about employees and their behavior in the workplace.  The Missouri Chamber believes laws to protect employers must be enacted to protect businesses from hiring potentially harmful employees who could create unsafe and unproductive working environments.
• Employment-at-will
  The courts have changed Missouri’s employment-at-will doctrine through a number of recent rulings. These decisions have negatively affected an employer’s ability to manage employees. The Missouri Chamber will advocate for changes to the employment-at-will doctrine to protect employers from whistleblower causes of action for wrongful discharge when the employee cannot show by a preponderance of the evidence that the employee was required to commit an illegal act or refused to commit an illegal act.
• New requirements for expert testimony
  Courts in Missouri currently allow expert testimony from people who are loosely associated with an expert field of employment. The courts also allow expert testimony that is not gathered through accepted practices in the field of expertise. The Missouri Chamber will support clear rules to ensure that information given in expert testimony is gathered by acceptable practices and is relevant and reliable to the claim. These rules will prevent abuses to our legal system and limit the number of frivolous lawsuits.
• Support certificate of merit
  The Missouri Chamber will support requiring a certificate of merit stating that a reasonable person would not have acted in the same or similar manner as the defendant in order for a civil claim to proceed through the courts. The certificate must be issued by an expert in the same or similar field or area in which the claim is being brought.
• Enact modified comparative fault
  The Missouri Chamber will support changing Missouri’s current negligence standard to ensure that a plaintiff found by a trier of fact to be more than 50 percent at fault for an injury cannot collect damages for that injury.
• Eliminate “joint and several liability”
  The Missouri Chamber will work to eliminate “joint and several liability,” which is a current law that allows plaintiffs to hold a party responsible for 100 percent of a judgment even when that party is as little as 51 percent at fault. The Missouri Chamber will continue to advocate for complete elimination of “joint and several liability,” so a defendant is only liable for the percentage of harm the defendant caused.

Economic Development

• Entrepreneurial development
  The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry supports enhancing the ability of entrepreneurs in Missouri to establish and develop their businesses while providing incentives for investors.  Whether it be through encouraging investors to invest in small businesses, providing incentives for small businesses to apply for federal grants, or linking venture capitalists with researchers and entrepreneurs -- providing a framework to develop and cultivate these relationships is key to improving the overall business climate in Missouri.
• Advancement of small businesses
  The Missouri Chamber supports cultivating and advancing small businesses in Missouri.  Some of these initiatives include providing incentives to encourage small businesses to apply for federal grants, encouraging investment in small businesses and providing growth incentives for small businesses that expand their business and create jobs.
• Corporate growth and attraction
  The Missouri Chamber supports working to remove the barriers facing today’s larger businesses in the state.  Modifying the state’s job creation incentive program and the enhanced enterprise zone program to support business retention and new business attraction are important first steps.  The Missouri Chamber also supports eliminating the corporation franchise tax and phasing-in full deductibility of the federal income tax.
• Protect and encourage funds for job-training
  The Missouri Chamber will continue to protect and encourage successful job-training programs that enhance workforce skills as well as attract and retain employers in our state.
• Investment in high-tech industries and rural areas 
  The Missouri Chamber supports increased state investment in the rapidly growing high-tech and life sciences industries, as well as in new companies operating in rural areas. Missouri should compete for the billions of dollars handed down through the federal New Markets Tax Credit program by implementing a companion state program.  Missouri is well situated to capitalize on federal New Markets money. Several urban and rural areas qualify for investment under the program, however, Missouri is currently receiving less than its share of these national funds. The Missouri Chamber supports a modest state New Markets Tax Credit to accompany the federal credit to leverage investment of private institutional capital and federal dollars in Missouri.

Education

• Improve the performance of students in pre-kindergarten through graduate school
  Missouri’s mathematics and science curricula, Grade Level Expectations and assessments fall behind international standards. The Missouri Chamber supports revising Missouri’s P-12 Grade Level Expectations, curricula and assessments for mathematics and science. Also, collegiate level math, engineering, technology and science curricula and assessments should be aligned with the P-12 standards.
• Expand the pool of students motivated to pursue careers in math, science, engineering and technology
  Demand for a workforce skilled and educated in the fields of math, education, technology and science will increase as the state continues to move forward in leveraging its biotechnology, plant, and animal sciences industries. Expanding the pool of students motivated to pursue careers in these fields is critical to the state’s ability to provide a highly-trained workforce to support advanced-manufacturing in Missouri.  The Missouri Chamber supports enhancing or creating new scholarship programs to motivate students to pursue degrees in these fields. The Missouri Chamber also supports incentives to reward public higher education institutions in the state that increase the number of students graduating with degrees in these fields.
• Recruit and retain high quality educators
  With an increase in demand for students skilled and educated in math, engineering, technology and science comes an increase in demand for educators who teach these fields of knowledge. The Missouri Chamber supports incentives to recruit and retain high quality P-20 math, engineering, technology and science educators.
• Increase and improve use of technology in classrooms
  In order for technology to remain an effective teaching tool, it must be regularly updated and replaced. In addition, educators must understand how to use the technology and how to teach technology curriculum. The Missouri Chamber supports efforts to ensure all students in secondary and post-secondary education have access to appropriate, up-to-date educational technology and technology curriculum and that teachers have the proper training to effectively use these tools.
• Maintain relationships between the education and business communities
  The Missouri Chamber will continue to encourage partnerships between business and education coalitions in the quest to improve education in the state. Through the METS Alliance and the Show-Me Scholars Initiative, the Missouri Chamber will continue to tell the educators and students about the changing skills Missouri employers require from the workforce. The Missouri Chamber will also support any legislative initiatives identified by the METS Alliance as necessary to implementing the group’s strategic goals to improve education in the state.
• Advocate alternative certification of educators and business leaders
  Missouri loses many qualified teachers to other states and professions. The Missouri Chamber will support efforts to simplify the certification process, so qualified teachers are able to participate in continuing education courses and still continue to teach. The Missouri Chamber will support amending certification requirements to allow business leaders the opportunity to teach subjects specific to their expertise or training.
• Enhance the development of basic skills
  The Missouri Chamber will advocate for setting the new standard that all children ought to be reading at grade level by the fourth grade.
• Raise the high school drop-out age
  Students in Missouri can currently drop out of school at the age of 16. The Missouri Chamber supports raising the age students can legally drop out of school to 18-years-old.
• Support higher education by protecting funding and reducing costs
  The Missouri Chamber recognizes that a strong higher education system is imperative to providing students with the advanced training and skills that will enable them to enter the workforce.  Failing to support our higher education institutions and their research missions will put Missouri at an unfair disadvantage to other states.  The Missouri Chamber will work to protect funding for higher education, and will advocate for policy aimed at reducing costs by improving efficiency at the state’s colleges and universities.
• Help higher education institutions secure additional funding to encourage learning in math and science
  The Missouri Chamber will work with higher education institutions, such as the University of Missouri, to secure additional funds that will go toward financial support to students who excel in math and science in high school.
• Support incubators at Missouri’s higher education institution
  The Missouri Chamber will work to streamline the process of assisting Missouri’s higher education institutions. The assistance will help these institutions market their research and development efforts, and will assist in facilitating both inter and intrastate opportunities for their products.

Environment

The Missouri Chamber champions efforts to preserve a healthy environment and to protect Missouri’s natural resources.  The Missouri Chamber will work with the public sector to ensure that efforts to achieve these goals do not put businesses in Missouri at an economic disadvantage over companies residing in other states.  We support the idea that sound environmental practice is good economic practice as long as the costs of a particular regulatory action and its expected benefits are worth the expenditures of public and private resources. The Missouri Chamber will also advocate for environmental standards that are based on scientifically sound, transparent, and peer-reviewed facts, and that the costs are borne equitably.

• Protect employers from increased fees
  The Missouri Chamber will support fair and reasonable permit fees, but only if the mechanisms are in place to guarantee that the fees collected are fully appropriated into their respective programs and work for a recognized benefit to those bearing the burden of the costs.
• Implement third-party administration of permits
  The ability of a company to move forward without unwarranted delays is imperative to economic development. The Missouri Chamber will support allowing registered environmental professionals to issue permits on behalf of the Department of Natural Resources to expedite the process while paying a fee commensurate with the service. The Missouri Chamber will also explore new processes to provide expedited review of permits that balance the needs of economic development and environmental protection.
• Encourage voluntary improvement of facilities
  The Missouri Chamber will support giving employers the authority to assess deficiencies within their own facilities and develop a plan to come into compliance with state law without the added burden of government penalties.
• Require notice of potential action prior to Notice of Violation
  Missouri businesses face extreme economic hardship when cited with a Notice of Violation (NOV).  The Missouri Chamber will support creating a notice of potential action that would guarantee that a NOV is warranted prior to the harmful sanction and allow a period of time to repair the potential violation.
• Encourage efficiency in operations
  The Missouri Chamber will work with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to adopt federal rules and policies relevant to Missouri operations in a more timely fashion, thus streamlining the system and cutting costs. 

• Support consumer-driven solutions to control costs
  Our current health care system insulates the end user from the real costs of health care, which is driving up the costs of healthcare.  By supporting methods that encourage consumer accountability, such as health savings accounts (HSA) and health reimbursement accounts (HRA), Missouri can slow the double-digit rate increases employers have seen in recent years.  The Missouri Chamber will advocate for incentives to encourage more companies to offer a consumer-driven health care platform to their employees. 
• Reduce health care costs by implementing health information technology
  The Missouri Chamber will work with the state in the development of a Health Information Network that will make the delivery of health care services less costly and more efficient. Such a system will make information about a patient’s health history readily available to doctors and will cut down the number of incidents of medication waste, fraud and abuse. These measures will, in turn, reduce the costs of health care delivery. The Missouri Chamber will back a Health Information Network that supports both state and private provided care.
• Implement a healthy Missouri program
  The Missouri Chamber will support the implementation of the healthy Missouri program. This initiative will educate consumers about the value of taking control of their health care by maintaining personal health and utilizing consumer-driven tools, such as health savings accounts (HSA) and health reimbursement accounts (HRA).  Such a program could offer incentives to employees who maintain good health or place deposits into HSAs for their participation in health wellness programs.
• Expand health care consumer education
  The Missouri Chamber will work to ensure that health care consumers can access health education and consumer information, so they can make informed decisions about their health care options. In addition, the Missouri Chamber will work to provide consumers with information concerning the costs of specific medical treatments at different hospitals, so the consumer can compare prices and find the best available care at the best available price.
• Make limited benefit plans available to small businesses
  The Missouri Chamber will work to provide a limited health benefit “mandate-light” plan to businesses that currently do not offer health insurance.
• Avoid misguided reforms and mandates
  No matter how well-intentioned, mandated coverage drives up the costs of health care.  The Missouri Chamber will work to establish rigorous standards before new mandates can be imposed on our health care system.

Life Sciences

• Entrepreneurial development
  The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry supports enhancing the ability of entrepreneurs in Missouri to establish and develop their businesses, while providing incentives for investors.  Whether it be through encouraging investors to invest in small businesses, providing incentives for small businesses to apply for federal grants, or linking venture capitalists with researchers and entrepreneurs, providing a framework to develop and cultivate these relationships is key to improving the overall business climate in Missouri.
• Advancement of small businesses
  The Missouri Chamber supports cultivating and advancing small businesses in Missouri.  Some of these initiatives include providing incentives to encourage small businesses to apply for federal grants, encouraging investment in small businesses and providing growth incentives for small businesses that expand their business and create jobs.
• Protect and encourage job training funding
  The Missouri Chamber will continue to protect and encourage successful job training programs that enhance workforce skills and attract and retain employers in our state.

Taxation and Budget

• Eliminate the corporation franchise tax
  The franchise tax is levied on corporations with outstanding shares and surplus exceeding one million dollars.  Because shares in a corporation represent the value of that corporation, the franchise tax is a tax on value.  The value of a corporation is derived from two main sources -- income and property.  Both are already subject to taxation through either corporate income tax or property tax.  In fact, the franchise tax is a tax on the residual value after the payment of two other taxes -- a true example of double taxation. Double taxation occurs when the same economic activity is used as a measure for more than one taxable event.  Any revision to the tax code should avoid double taxation. The Missouri Chamber supports the repeal and/or phase-out of the corporate franchise tax. 
• Full deductibility of the federal income tax
  In 1993, the largest tax increase in Missouri history forced corporations and many small business owners to pay state income taxes on federal income tax dollars.  This tax policy is particularly burdensome because businesses are required to pay tax on tax.  The double tax occurs because businesses are prohibited from making use of the portion of money they pay to the federal government in taxes, and they must pay tax on the same money again at the state level.  Current law only permits a deduction for one-half of the tax businesses pay to the Internal Revenue Service.  The Missouri Chamber supports legislation to phase-in full deductibility of the federal income tax.
• Maintain point-of-sale as the sales tax sourcing method
  Pressure to change the Missouri sales tax sourcing method to a destination-based method has arrived due to multi-state developments. To comply with the Streamlined Sales Tax model legislation, Missouri would have to change from a point-of-sale state to a destination state. The Chamber believes this would be an undue burden on business.  Missouri has more taxing jurisdictions than almost all other states.  Forcing retailers to calculate sales tax depending on where their customers request delivery would result in a costly and time-consuming burden.  For these reasons, the Missouri Chamber opposes a change to the sourcing method for sales tax, and urges the delegates to the Streamlined Sales Tax Project to work to modify the requirement for a sourcing change in order for a state to comply with the model legislation.
• Shift the burden of proof
  Current law places the burden of proof when ascertaining the liability of a taxpayer on businesses that have a net worth of more than $7 million or employ more than 500 people.  This policy is objectionable because the size of the business has little relation to which party should bear the burden of proof.  This policy tells businesses in Missouri that if they are successful then they are “guilty until proven innocent” in tax disputes.  Such a policy encourages auditing and constant interference of mid-size and larger companies because the Revenue Department can simply allege a tax deficiency and force a company to disprove it.  The Missouri Chamber favors legislation that would place the burden of proof on the Director of Revenue, except in cases where the company has unreasonably withheld access to documents or information.
• Legalize the advertisement of sales tax sales
  Current Missouri law makes it a crime to advertise that a business will pay the sales tax on an item. Marketing analysis shows that customers respond positively to retailers offering to pay the sales tax on an item.  So long as the sales tax paid by the retailer is stated on the bill, the Missouri Chamber supports legislation legalizing advertisements by retailers offering to pay sales tax.
• Oppose lobbying by state agencies
  State agencies have actively lobbied against tax reform and relief measures that would enhance Missouri’s business climate if passed. The Missouri Chamber supports legislation to prohibit state agencies from lobbying against legislation. 
• Monitor sales tax exemptions
  Missouri sales tax exemptions promote economic development by providing Missouri taxpayers with economic benefits that act as incentives to attract business to the state.  In addition, many of the exemptions further social and environmental objectives for the state.  The Missouri Chamber is in favor of sales tax exemptions that promote economic activity and create jobs in Missouri.  The Missouri Chamber opposes the removal or limiting of sales tax exemptions because this removal could increase the economic and administrative burdens on businesses, which could then cause businesses to leave Missouri for other states. These negative effects would decrease Missouri's revenue and eliminate jobs.

Tourism

• Implement a uniform start date for schools
  Missouri’s economy loses millions of dollars annually because of staggered school start dates.  The staggered start dates lead to a disruption to the tourism employee base as well as a mixed season for consumers. This economic loss corresponds with a revenue loss for state and local governments.  The Missouri Chamber will support legislation to establish a uniform start date for the school year. A uniform start date will have minimal impacts on Missouri’s education system.
• Preserve tourism and  arts funding
  Promotion of Missouri as a tourism destination should continue to be a priority of this state because it is an important economic development resource for our state.  It is also important to stimulate the growth, development, availability and appreciation of the arts.  The Missouri Chamber will promote and protect funding for the Division of Tourism and the Missouri Arts Council to enhance Missouri’s travel and tourism industry.
• Secure continued marketing funds for tourism
  The Missouri Chamber will work to help legislative leaders recognize the importance of continuing to provide marketing funds (i.e. the reauthorization of HB 188) for the Division of Tourism. According to current state law, the division receives a percentage of the growth in sales taxes generated by the travel industry.  This legislation sunsets in 2010 and must be reinstated prior to that time to guarantee that tourism marketing remains an integral part of economic development in Missouri.

Transportation

• Sales tax on Missouri highway contracts
  Missouri currently charges sales tax on goods purchased to fulfill highway construction contracts.  Companies in Missouri must then pay a local sales tax on the goods where the contractors/manufacturers/suppliers purchased the equipment and materials.  Out-of-state companies pay state and local use taxes, but they do not pay local tax in most areas of the state. The problematic result is two-fold -- the state diverts transportation dollars out of the transportation fund and back into the state and local general revenue funds by way of the sales tax and the Missouri-based contractors are at a 2 to 5 percent disadvantage to their out-of-state competitors on every bid.  The Missouri Chamber supports legislation to end the diversion and eliminate the inequity against Missouri businesses caused by the sales tax on highway contracts.
• Multimodal funding
  The Missouri Chamber supports legislation to identify a dedicated funding source that would allow the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission to finance multimodal capital improvement projects throughout the state of Missouri. The Missouri Chamber does not support legislation that continues to divert transportation dollars out of the transportation fund to supplement multimodal funding needs.
• Primary safety belt law
  The Missouri Chamber supports legislation that would change Missouri’s secondary seat belt law to a primary seat belt law, allowing law enforcement officers to stop drivers for failing to wear their seat belts.  Police officers currently can ticket drivers only for failing to wear a seat belt if stopped for another traffic violation.
• I-70/I-44 reconstruction education
  The Missouri Chamber supports an effort to educate Missouri business owners and legislators on the impact of a proposed plan to reconstruct I-70/I-44 using a sales tax increase as a proposed revenue source.  While this proposed reconstruction plan is still in its early phases, it is important to hold open, comprehensive discussions about the potential impact of the plan on Missouri’s citizens and business owners.
• Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) tax credit
  The Missouri Chamber supports legislation that will provide tax credits for all modes of transportation, including heavy duty vehicles (trucks) that have or will be equipped with devices, such as Auxiliary Power Units (APUs), to enhance fuel efficiency and improve environmental quality.  In 2005, Congress passed legislation authorizing states to allow additional gross and axle weights for the installation of APUs on trucks.  The authorization is part of the Energy Power Act of 2005.  APUs provide heat, air conditioning, engine warming and electricity to components of trucks without using the diesel engine of the vehicle.

Unemployment Insurance

• Support further reform as recommended by the Missouri Unemployment Council
  The Missouri Chamber believes that many positive changes have been made to the unemployment system. At the same time, the Missouri Chamber recognizes that we must continue to work with interested parties to strengthen the system and ensure long-term security. The Missouri Unemployment Council was created in 2004 to review necessary changes to the system and recommend reforms. The Missouri Chamber will continue to work with the Missouri Unemployment Council to ensure that positive reforms continue to be enacted to keep the system secure.

Workers’ Compensation

• Strengthen the Second Injury Fund
  The Second Injury Fund exists to support employees injured beyond a pre-existing permanent injury. The Missouri Chamber will support the existence of the fund and will seek to enact legislation that will provide for the long-term economic security of the fund by guaranteeing that payments are being made properly and fairly.
• Strengthen the defense of the Second Injury Fund
  The Missouri Chamber will advocate for the defense efforts of the Second Injury Fund to be transferred from the Attorney General’s Office to the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.  This action will move the defense of the fund to an entity that has a vested interest in the long term financial stability of the Second Injury Fund.