Senate Bill 20, introduced jointly with SB15 and SB19, made its way to the Missouri House as the first piece of legislation to receive Missouri Senate approval in the 2013 legislative session.
If passed, the combined legislation would alter certain benevolent tax credits already in place in Missouri, according to the Missouri Senate website.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, seeks to address and reform previous legislation.
Under SB15, 19 and 20, the Public Safety Officer Surviving Spouse Tax Credit program would be extended, allowing widows of public safety officers killed in the line of duty to continue receiving a refundable credit as long as they don’t remarry.
The new legislation also seeks to address children adoption tax credits. SB15, 19 and 20 would change the Children in Crisis tax credit to Champion for Children tax credit while instituting a $2 million per tax year cap for in-state adoptions. The tax credit does not apply to out-of-state adoptions.
The act would also eliminate clauses sanctioning the relocation of unused funds from the Special Needs Adoption tax credit to the Children in Crisis tax credit.
Dixon’s proposed legislation would also extend the tax credit for eligible taxpayers who alter their homes to make them handicapped-accessible.
The rebuilding communities tax credit program has a $10 million cap. In the case of remaining tax credits under the cap, $100,000 would first be used for the residential dwelling accessibility tax credit.
The bill would also re-authorize tax credits for contributing to pregnancy resource centers, and it would approve tax credits for food pantries. It would also minimize the tax credit cap to $1.25 million per fiscal year.
Mary McKee, the administrative assistant for the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri, said she highly encourages the reinstatement of tax credits for food pantries.
“We would love to have the program back,” she said. “If the bill were to pass, a lot of donors would receive that tax credit from the state. Though donors already make donations without receiving tax credit, it would entice people to make a larger donation.”
The proposed legislation would file a recently established development disability care provider tax credit program under the stipulations of the Tax Credit Accountability Act of 2004. The act allows the legislative body to investigate tax credits.
The bills were first read in the Senate on Jan. 9. After undergoing amendments, the bill was slated onto an informal calendar. The act was perfected Jan. 28 and later endorsed by senators on Jan. 31.
Dixon and other sponsors were unavailable to comment.
The legislation was referred to the House Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Committee on Feb. 7.
