MO Statehouse

Updated 10:43 a.m. Oct. 13 with corrected location of hearings

A judicial panel charged with redrawing Missouri’s State House and Senate districts will begin taking comments from the public tomorrow.

The six-judge panel will draw new maps because two panels made up of Democrats and Republicans failed to reach agreements on them before the August deadline.

The full Missouri Senate is set to convene next week, October 17th, to make one last attempt at reaching an agreement on a wide-ranging economic development bill.

The biggest sticking point remains whether to place 7-year expiration dates, or sunsets, on low income and historic preservation tax credits.  The Missouri House removed the sunsets before passing the bill last week, a move opposed by the Senate.

President Pro-tem Rob Mayer (R, Dexter) says he’ll ask the Senate to vote to appoint conferees, who would meet with House leaders and try to hammer out a final version of the bill.

A Missouri Senate committee has requested that the state’s Economic Development Department hand over all documents related to a failed attempt to build an artificial sweetener plant in Moberly.  The northeast Missouri town agreed to issue $39 million in bonds to Los Angeles-based Mamtek.  But the project fell through, and Moberly was stuck with a $39 million tab when the company missed its bond payment.  Republican Senator Kurt Schaefer of Columbia was appointed to the Governmental Accountability C