Updated at 6:29 p.m.
A Missouri House committee has dealt what could be a fatal blow to the passage of the wide-ranging tax credit bill that lawmakers have been battling over throughout the special legislative session.
The House Economic Development Committee adjourned for the day without taking it up for a vote, which means the full House cannot vote on it Friday unless it suspends the rules. Chairwoman Anne Zerr (R, St. Charles) says the bill is just not ready to be voted on, as House and Senate negotiators are nowhere near an agreement.
“I’m not gonna bring it up before it’s ready, I’m not gonna bring it up before the Senate can live with something we have," Zerr said. "(I’m) not gonna do that, why would I do that?”
The House GOP caucus is scheduled to meet tonight to decide if they want to suspend the rules and consider the bill, anyway, or do nothing and possibly trigger the end of the special session.
The full House is scheduled to convene tomorrow morning at 9:00, while the Senate is set to convene at 2:00 p.m.
Original posting, 2:33 p.m.:
Negotiators from the Missouri House and Senate are attempting what may be their final shot at reaching an agreement on a wide-ranging tax credit bill.
GOP leaders from both chambers have not been able to reach a consensus on how many incentives should be in the bill, and on how much oversight Governor Jay Nixon's Department of Economic Development should have over them.
A 2:00 p.m. meeting of the House Economic Development Committee was postponed until 4:30 p.m. in order to allow more time for negotiations. In the words of Chairwoman Anne Zerr (R, St. Charles), "We're not quite ready for an executive session yet, and we just need to decide where we're gonna go from here."
Leaders from both chambers have indicated that if they cannot reach an agreement on tax credits by Friday that they would end the special legislative session.
