Advocating for You - April, 2019

FEDERAL

Senator Moran Speaks to Financial Services Committee: The KC Chamber hosted U.S. Senator Jerry Moran last week to speak with leaders of regional financial services institutions and Chamber Public Policy Council members. Senator Moran spoke on Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) Reform for home mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, support for the Ex-Im Bank to a appoint a full board for the organization to make large loans, support for Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) reform, and on the future of banking and the growing cannabis industry. Senator Moran expressed cautious optimism to get small reforms passed this year but did not believe a large, comprehensive reform package will be passed.

Trump Infrastructure Architect Visits Kansas City: For the second year, the KC Chamber partnered with the Missouri Energy Initiative (MEI) to host the Midwest Energy Policy Series on Infrastructure event. This year, Dan Slane, the architect of President Trump’s Infrastructure Plan, was the keynote speaker. Slane discussed how his team identified the nearly $1 trillion worth of projects and the 51 “shovel-ready” projects. These infrastructure investments range from desperately-needed repairs to existing infrastructure, such as bridges, roads, and water infrastructure, to new, cutting-edge projects such as light rail systems between major metros. Slane also touched upon President Trump’s recently signed Executive Order related to oil and gas energy infrastructure which can be found here.

Modernizing US Transportation Infrastructure: The KC Chamber has joined hundreds of other chambers of commerce and business associations across the country calling for the US Congress to take immediate action to fix and modernize the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. In a letter sent to the Senate and House Infrastructure Chairs, the coalition representing business and labor urged for passage of a new bold infrastructure plan with these basic principles:

• It must address the current crisis and invest in the future;
• It must be funded with real money, not gimmicks;
• It must provide the vision and the bridge to ensure that transportation in five, 10 or 20 years has an appropriate system of user fees and funding that matches the vehicles and society of that future;
• It must provide resiliency of our transportation networks; and
• It must support the jobs of today and the future with funding and programs to match.

Missouri Hyperloop Funding Request: The KC Chamber is serving on the Missouri Hyperloop Coalition and a special Blue-Ribbon Panel, established by Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe and House Speaker Elijah Haahr, to study how to establish the state as the global epicenter for Hyperloop technology. In April the Coalition made a formal request to US Senator Roy Blunt asking for support of the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) funding request to help establish a national Hyperloop test track and research and development facility in the state. Missouri has been cited as one of the “top 3 sites in the world” under consideration for an inter-city Hyperloop route. The proposed route would connect Kansas City, Columbia, and St. Louis and allow Missourians to travel across the state in less than 28 minutes. Thanks to the support of Black and Veatch, Missouri is also the first site in North America to have completed an engineering feasibility study on its proposed Hyperloop project. That study concluded not only that the technology was viable but that the Missouri route would be economically feasible as well.

KANSAS

Complete Count Census 2020: The KC Chamber was honored to be in attendance at Governor Laura Kelly’s Executive Order signing to establish an advisory committee tasked with boosting engagement and participation in the 2020 Census. The Kansas Complete Count Committee will be co-chaired by former Google and Uber executive Brian McClendon and Dodge City Commissioner Joyce Warshaw. The KC Chamber urges both of its state governments and its Kansas and Missouri congressional members to devote adequate resources to ensure a complete and accurate Census count. Census numbers affect federal fund disbursements to the states relating to anything from healthcare, roads, and schools.

Budget Director Speaks to KC Chamber: Kansas Budget Director Larry Campbell in April debriefed the Chamber’s Kansas State Affairs Committee on the newly released Consensus Revenue Estimate that forecasts the revenue the state will be collecting for the next two years. Director Campbell emphasized that revenue collections are stable with a modest increase in revenue over the next couple years due to tax collections growing, but revenues declining in other areas. According to Campbell, there is cautious optimism in Topeka, but it is important to keep in mind that one year of stabilization does not necessarily reflect a trend. Senator John Skubal and Representative Brandon Woodard also spoke at the meeting and expressed shared optimism and belief the stabilized budget helps the legislature effectively budget for top priorities including transportation and infrastructure across the state. Senator Skubal also expressed his pleasure with the legislature passing many of the recommendations of the statewide Transportation Task Force and looks forward to passing a comprehensive transportation plan upon the completion of the T-Works projects.

Medicaid Expansion—Time to Act: Before the Kansas Senate Adjourned for its April Spring Break, Senator Anthony Hensley submitted a motion to force debate and vote on the House bill expanding Medicaid eligibility for about 130,000 Kansans. To draw the bill out of committee, the motion will need 24 of 40 senators. This vote will take place on Wednesday, May 1 when the Legislature resumes work. The KC Chamber strongly supports Medicaid Expansion in Kansas and calls on the Senate to follow the House’s bipartisan support of HB2066. Contact your state senators today to let them know that it is time for Kansas to expand Medicaid to close the coverage gap for working Kansans and ensure adequate funding for the state’s healthcare providers serving economically disadvantaged Kansans.

MISSOURI

Bridge Bonding Update: In early January, Missouri Governor Mike Parson addressed a joint session of the legislature where he outlined his plan for fixing bridges across the state. Governor Parson proposed that the state would borrow $350 million in bonds to repair 250 bridges statewide, four of which are in the Kansas City metro area. Having studied the state’s infrastructure needs with their 21st Century Transportation Task Force, the legislature put forth their own plans. While the House Budget chair proposed a $100 million allocation from the state’s general fund over several years, the plan that appears to have the governor’s support left the Senate in early April. President Pro Tem Dave Schatz amended his resolution, Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, permitting the state to borrow $300 million in bonds to repair 215 bridges with a structure to pay off the debt sooner than the governor’s original plan. The Senate proposal now awaits a hearing in the House Budget committee before it can come before the entire House for approval. The Kansas City Chamber applauds the leadership of Governor Parson and Sen. Schatz to move this much-needed funding package forward and will continue advocating for necessary funding to update the state’s infrastructure to support safety and commerce across our state.

Border War Bill Advances: In recent weeks, the House approved Senator Mike Cierpiot’s legislation, Senate Bill 182, to end the economic border war by an overwhelming 132-13 vote. With the legislative session ending May 17, the bill has three weeks to receive final Senate approval of House modifications to the bill. If approved, Missouri would prohibit certain business attraction incentives from being offered to Kansas City area businesses that move across the Missouri-Kansas state line and do not create any net new jobs. Since 2011, both states have used a combined $335 million in taxpayer dollars to attract businesses without creating new jobs or economic benefit to the Kansas City region.

Gov. Parson’s Workforce Development Roundtable: The Chamber was honored to host Governor Mike Parson and area CEOs last week for a roundtable discussion focused on workforce development. With the state’s unemployment rate at record lows, Governor Parson outlined workforce development as one of his priorities during his state of the state address in January. Business leaders in attendance were able to provide insights into their industry employment needs, talent recruitment challenges, present skills gaps, and other workforce concerns. Missouri Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon and Commissioner of Higher Education Zora Mulligan kicked off the roundtable by answering questions about recent efforts by their departments to work together to improve workforce development in the state. The department's efforts to move workforce development bills, such as Fast Track, have been met with some opposition in the legislature. Governor Parson encouraged business leaders to contact their elected officials and share their industry needs to help them better understand how they can make Missouri more competitive.

Major Metro Chambers Work Together: Four of the state’s largest regional chambers of commerce met in Jefferson City in early April to advocate for passage of the Governor’s workforce development and bridge bonding proposals. Before visiting offices in the Senate, chamber CEOs and regional business leaders from Kansas City, Springfield, Saint Louis and the Missouri Chamber heard from Governor Parson about the significant impact his top two legislative priorities could have on the state. The major metro chambers roamed the hallways of the capitol building meeting with key legislators who could help advance Senate Bill 16, the Senate workforce development omnibus bill. Following their visit, the major metro chambers authored a joint opinion editorial outlining the business communities' reason for supporting state investment in both its workforce development and transportation infrastructure. The Kansas City Chamber will continue partnering with other regional chambers across the state to advocate on behalf of the Missouri business community.

Transportation Big 5 Initiative Gets to Work: The Transportation Big 5 Initiative committee, led by co-chairs Mike DeBacker (Burns & McDonnell) and Scott Smith (Retired, HNTB), is charged with convening business leaders interested in seeking solutions to regional transportation related challenges. Studies show that less than 10 percent of metro area jobs are accessible by public transit. To improve connectivity throughout the region, the committee outlined four initiative goals focused on workforce access, regional transportation investment strategies, improving transportation safety and transportation advocacy. As the initiative begins its work, co-chair Scott Smith reminded the committee that “nothing affects economic opportunity and quality of life in the Kansas City region more than transportation”.

LOCAL

No on KC Economic Incentives Cap: The Chamber Board of Directors has voted to oppose Question 1 on the June 18 ballot to establish Ordinance No. 180928, which would place a 50 percent cap on ad valorem property taxes that may be utilized in furtherance of certain economic development projects in Kansas City, MO. The Board instead has encouraged a collaborative and thoughtful effort to develop a well-informed framework to guide an effective tax incentive plan for the city that will allow it to remain competitive and develop special incentive opportunities for development in under-resourced neighborhoods. Chamber examination of tax incentive polices of the 10 largest cities in the metropolitan area showed Kansas City, MO currently has one of the most restrictive incentive caps in the region and that no local municipality caps incentives at a rate of 50% of ad valorem taxes, putting the City at a distinct disadvantage. KCMO’s current development incentives cap of 75 percent contains important exceptions, which permit for deviations from standard practice in extraordinary circumstances. The Chamber believes that such exceptions are critical to catalytic projects, particularly those in historically under-resourced neighborhoods where new development projects are already scarce. The Chamber believes a policy that treats all portions of the City identically, as this one does, will limit the city’s capacity to leverage investments like the Center City Sales tax and Opportunity Zones.

KC BizPAC Candidate Endorsements: After two days of candidate interviews and review of each candidate’s detailed questionnaire, KC BizPAC, the Political Action Committee of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce in Partnership with the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, announced its candidate endorsements and contributions at an event April 29.