HB 45 – Small Businesses

NEWS RELEASE    ---     From the Office of Representative Shelley Keeney - 156^th District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:	CONTACT:    Rep. Shelley Keeney
January 24, 2011	(573) 751-5912

HB 45 – Small Businesses

This week at the state capitol we passed our first full piece of legislation, HB 45. This legislation was aimed directly at small businesses in Missouri. In fact, through the committee process and on the floor we heard that there are over 100,000 small businesses in the Show Me State.  Employees in those businesses account for 60% of employment. Those numbers just go to show how important entrepreneurs and everyday Missourians are to our economy.

The primary function of HB 45 was to encourage small businesses to hire new people and grow their businesses. For instance, we extended the definition of a small business by taking it from 25 employees to 50 employees. We also extended a tax deduction for these new small businesses if they hire new employees at the average annual county wage and doubled it if they also offer to pay for 50% of the new employee’s healthcare benefits. In total the value of the deduction is $10,000 per new employee hired or $20,000 per new employee if they offer the benefits. 

Perhaps the most important provision in the bill stated that any new rules, fees or mandates passed by the federal government must first be approved by our Missouri General Assembly.

I believe this overall philosophy, in creating a stronger business climate, is key to turning our state around and getting back on our feet economically. As a matter of fact, this simple solution was quite a bit different from what the Governor outlined in his State of the State address. Gov. Nixon attempted to focus more on making tweaks, slight changes or by consolidating existing programs instead of making significant strides to change the actual business climate.

I understand there are a lot of difficult decisions to make in state government and the Governor is at the forefront of making a lot of them, but this philosophical difference will probably be a key point of dissention of how we decide to improve the job creation climate in the State of Missouri. This is especially important considering our state’s unemployment rate is 9.5% and many surrounding states have a lower rate.

We have to be willing to make bold decisions and lead by example -- that’s why we were elected. This week we started off with a great bill to encourage entrepreneurs to hire new employees and create a more stable and fair business climate for the State of Missouri. These are the kind of decisions we want to continue to lead with as we continue through the rest of the legislative session.

It was really enjoyable to have Brittany Holmes as a guest in the state capitol this past week.  As you may remember, Brittany is an eleventh grade student from Marble Hill who has been working to raise awareness about the roads in our area.  This week Brittany also had the opportunity to visit with Senator Crowell, spend a day shadowing MoDOT legislative liaisons and attending the Governor's State of the State address.

If you would like to receive my weekly updates via electronic E-Mail, please let me know by sending an email to: Shelley.Keeney@house.mo.gov

As always, I appreciate hearing your comments, opinions and concerns about state government.  Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-5912. You may write me at: Shelley Keeney; Missouri House of Representatives; State Capitol, Room 313; Jefferson City, MO 65101-6806.