Port authority bill amended, sent to Senate

A barge makes its way down the Missouri River past Jefferson City.
A barge makes its way down the Missouri River past Jefferson City.

An amendment to a bill that would redefine "port infrastucture projects" and help bring a Missouri River port to Jefferson City passed the House on Wednesday and was sent to the Senate.

Senate Bill 22, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-St. Louis County, modifies several provisions relating to tax increment financing. One of the provisions is a new definition for "port infrastructure projects."

Originally, the legislation prohibited new projects from being authorized in an area designated as a flood plain by the Federal Emergency Management Agency unless such projects are located in Cole County as well as Jackson, Platte and Clay counties in the Kansas City area.

Last year, the Legislature approved and Gov. Mike Parson signed legislation transferring 116 acres of state-owned land just east of the Ike Skelton Training Facility to the Heartland Port Authority for the potential development of a port on the Missouri River.

Because the Port Authority has also been looking at plans that could potentially locate a port near OCCI Inc. in northern Jefferson City in Callaway County, an amendment sponsored by state Rep. Dave Griffith, R-Jefferson City, was added in the House that would remove Cole County from the list of political subdivisions exempt from provisions prohibiting tax increment financing in flood plains and added Jefferson City to the list.

On Wednesday, the full House approved the amendment and sent it back to the Senate. If it is debated and approved on the floor of the Senate, then it is sent to the governor for his approval.

Griffith said he didn't anticipate any issues with the bill making its way through the last couple of days of the legislative session.