Farm Bureau Youth Leadership from Dallas County.
Farm Bureau Youth Leadership from St. Clair County.
Caleb Ball, from Phillipsburg-honored for winning the Voice of Democracy contest with his family. |
Senate Bill 149, which I sponsored will hopefully provide Missouri an economic boost and some high-tech jobs was signed into law today. This bill offers sales and use tax exemptions to data storage centers looking to establish, expand or relocate to Missouri. Data storage centers house computer servers storing digital information for credit card providers, online retailers, vital health records and Internet search engines. The advent of cloud computing and storage has made data storage centers a billion-dollar industry. Nationwide, the demand for such facilities is far greater than the current number of data storage centers that are in use.
Due to Missouri’s climate, geography, central location and a relatively cheap cost of energy, our state is a great location for these centers. Our neighboring states, including, Kansas, Illinois, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Iowa already offer these types of incentives to lure data storage companies to their areas. I’m pleased the General Assembly and the governor acted on this legislation before we get left behind in the new digital age. Senate Bill 149 will go into effect on August 28, 2015.
The Missouri Senate gave its approval to its version of the state’s budget plan for next year. Now Senate and House negotiators will conference to hammer out the final details for the new Fiscal Year 2016. The most important thing we do as legislators is pass a balanced operating budget. This is the most conservative budget we have ever passed, and I am proud of the work done by my colleagues in the Senate. Lawmakers must finalize the budget by the constitutional deadline of May 8, 2015.
As always, if you have any questions about any legislation, or if you have any concerns please contact my office.
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