On Sunday, April 3, members of the Asian American community met in a public hearing with Missouri Senators Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-14), Eric Schmitt (R-15), and John Lamping (R-24) to discuss SB 390, the Aerotropolis Tax Credit bill in connection with the Midwest China Hub Commission. The hearing began with the senators providing an overview of various aspects of the bill and its effects and concluded with an open question and answer session.
SB390 (Aerotropolis Tax Credit) was proposed last monthby state Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, would create up to $480 million worth of tax breaks over 15 years to spur foreign trade through Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
There are approximately 72 million kilos of cargo flown from China to the United States each year. Chicago, which has established itself as a railroad hub, receives 61 million kilos. The drive behind the Midwest China Hub Project is to "unseat Chicago" for a larger share of that cargo. To do this, Missouri needs at least 5-7 flights per week to Asia compared to the 26 flights per week currently going out of Chicago. The method of securing these flights is to provide a credit or incentive to the freight forwarders - the aim of SB 390 - in order to generate "flight safety," the concept where if one flight is missed, there will be another one in a short time span. The most important part of the bill is the tax credit for the construction of manufacturing facilities such as distribution and cold change facilities. These provide the infrastructure and backbone of the China Hub Project.
Senator Lamping explained that due to a negative climate surrounding tax credits, there must be creativity and accountability associated with new tax credit programs. The advantage of SB 390 over other tax credit programs is that it would create a whole new industry and begin to revive St. Louis and Missouri as an economic powerhouse and hub leader. Governor Nixon has not come out in support of SB 390 and there are only six weeks left in the current legislative session. All of the Senators and many of the attendees noted a lack of participation from the Asian community and urged community members to voice their opinions to their State representatives.
In the final part of the meeting, Eling Lam, president of OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans), brought up HB 167 which would eliminate driving tests in all other languages except English. All three Senators emphasized that this bill "will never pass".
For more information on SB 390, HB 167 or the China Hub Project, please call St. Louis Chinese American news at 314-432-3858.
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