By Charles JacoSeptember 14, 2011
Jefferson City, Mo. (KPLR11.com): Proponents of the China Hub were dealt a set back in Jefferson City, in the Missouri Legislature Special Session. Three Hundred million dollar, was stripped from a bill sponsoring tax incentives for Lambert to become a cargo hub for China.
If the tax incentives aren’t passed, Chinese business leaders may walk away from the deal and locate the cargo hub somewhere else.
Both Denver International Airport and a coalition of Ohio cities using an airport that is currently an cargo hub for D.H.L. air freight are preparing to pursue an international cargo hub with China, amid growing signs that the Chinese may walk away from a cargo hub deal with St. Louis if the Missouri Legislature fails to approve tax incentives to develop the project during the current special session.
The cities of Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus have completed a study on using an airport in Wilmington, Ohio as an China cargo hub. The Wilmington airport is already home to a air cargo hub for D.H.L., the German-based international cargo carrier. The Ohio cities began actively pursuing the China hub idea last spring, when Missouri lawmakers failed to approve tax incentives for the Lambert airport hub in their regular session.
Meanwhile, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has proposed an "Aerotropolis" concept for the sprawling Denver International Airport. The centerpiece of that would be a hub for Chinese goods shipped to the middle of the U.S.
The speculation about an alternative to St. Louis for a China cargo hub accelerated Tuesday, when State Senate President Pro-Tem Rob Mayer (R)-Dexter, stripped $300 million from the $360 million in state tax credits proposed for the China hub operation at Lambert. Other budget hawks in both the state Senate and the House want to remove all tax incentives from the project during the current Special Session.
"If this can't be done without extravagant tax credits, then perhaps this is the wrong deal at the wrong time for the wrong airport," said Audrey Spaulding, a policy analyst for the libertarian Show-Me Institute in St. Louis. "We cannot continue throwing tax incentives at every deal that's out there."
Officials affiliated with the China hub project have, for weeks, privately said the Chinese would abandon the St. Louis project completely if the tax incentives did not pass. Now, they are starting to speak publicly about that fear. They are frustrated that despite four years of trans-Pacific negotiations between Beijing and St. Louis by high-ranking officials, including China's U.S. Ambassador, China's Vice-Premier, and U.S. Senators Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill, the deal could collapse because of the Missouri Legislature.
"The Chinese have made a determination that their strong preference is to do the project here in Missouri, and create up to 10,000 permanent jobs here," said Dick Fleming, head of the Regional Chamber and Growth Association. "But if Missouri can't deliver, they're going to meet their needs in other places, like Colorado or Ohio." |
