SB 706 - This act exempts purchases of certain energies, gases, utilities, and chemicals used in the manufacture or processing of products including those consumed in the processing of recovered materials from state and local sales and use taxation. The act modifies provisions of the Quality Jobs Act. Specifically, the act modifies the determination of county average wage where a qualified company relocates employees from one Missouri county to another. A county from which a qualified company plans to relocate may object to the issuance of benefits under this section and preclude such issuance of certain benefits upon proper notification to the Department of Economic Development. The act requires that businesses offer health insurance to all full-time employees in the state and pay at least fifty percent of such premiums in order to be a qualified company. The act excludes educational services, religious organizations, and public administration from the term "qualified company". The act allows companies which are excluded from the definition of qualified company to receive benefits under the program provided they meet certain additional requirements. The act allows for the use of tax credits issued under the Missouri Quality Jobs Act to be used to offset both Missouri income tax and the financial institutions tax liabilities. The act allows for the increase of the calendar year annual maximum number of quality jobs training tax credits issued to a qualified company which also participates in the new job training program by an amount equal to the withholding tax retained by such company under the new job training program provided it does not exceed the projected state benefit of the project. The act allows for an increase in the calendar year annual maximum amount of tax credits issued for high impact projects if the number of new jobs will exceed five hundred and such action is proposed by the department and approved by the quality jobs advisory task force. The act allows a qualified company to begin retaining withholding taxes upon reaching the minimum number of new jobs where the average wage exceeds the county average wage. A qualified company will not receive tax credits if in its annual report, the average wage is below the county average wage, the company has not maintained the required employee insurance, or if the number of new jobs is below the minimum. The maximum calendar year annual tax credits issued under the Missouri Quality Jobs Act is increased from twelve million dollars to seventy-five million dollars. Prior to the issuance of tax credits under the Missouri Quality Jobs Act, the Department of Economic Development must verify through the department of revenue that the qualified company does not owe any delinquent income, sales, or use taxes, or interest or penalties on such taxes and through the department of insurance that the applicant does not owe any delinquent insurance taxes. If the qualified company has a tax delinquency, the tax credits issued under the Missouri Quality Jobs Act shall first be applied to such delinquency with the remainder, if any, to then be issued to the company. The act requires the Department of Economic Development to give preference, in providing benefits under the quality jobs act, to qualified companies and projects targeted at areas of the state which have recently been classified as disaster areas by the federal government. JASON ZAMKUS