City Legislative Priorities

Confidential Police Personnel Records

A.3(b) – Recent court opinions have interpreted Chapter 610, the Missouri Open Records Law, to hold that police internal affairs records are incident and investigative reports, thus open to the public under certain circumstances. Internal affairs investigations are not criminal in nature, and are for the purpose of addressing officer conduct and identifying potential law enforcement areas for improvement. Under prior law, internal affairs investigations were considered closed and confidential personnel records, subject to disclosure when judicially determined to be directly relevant to the accused's defense in a particular case. Under these recent court opinions, officers are now subject to being confronted on the witness stand with confidential and personal details from employment investigations completely unrelated to the case about which they have been called to testify. This potential for required disclosure also substantially interferes with the law enforcement agency's ability to conduct and use the internal affairs investigation in a constructive manner. The General Assembly should limit the dissemination of information about police officers due to the unique problems they and their families face.

Efficient Traffic Enforcement

A.3(f) – The state should modernize its traffic control laws by providing for automated Photo Red Light camera enforcement of stop light violations and allow municipalities to enforce these infractions as a non-point penalty. This will help municipalities promote safety on their streets while holding those who violate red light rules accountable. Additionally, the Department of Revenue should have current contact information for every Missouri resident. The legislature should revisit this issue and once again require that Missouri residents update their contact information with the Department of Revenue whenever they change their address.

Personnel Policies

D.1 – The City supports Missouri's current meet-and-confer law and opposes any change to it. The Hancock Amendment limits the authority of local governmental agencies to raise taxes without a majority vote of the electorate, and limits the power of the State to mandate new activities or expand existing activities without a state appropriation to pay for the activity. The State of Missouri should not mandate new activities or expand existing activities for local government without appropriating funds to pay for such activities. The power to set wages and other terms and conditions of employment for government employees must rest with elected representatives and should not be delegated to third party arbitrators or the courts. The City strongly opposes legislation that would interfere with municipal authority to determine personnel, merit system rules and regulations, pay or terms and conditions of employment, including benefits and pension issues. Employees of the City should not be permitted to make campaign contributions to election committees for City office. Such contributions can create the appearance that the office holder is beholden to the interests of its employees. City employees should not be able to actively participate in local elections for their employers by making campaign contributions to elected city officials.

Preemption

A.4 Preemption. The General Assembly and Congress should refrain from actions which limit local authority to deal with problems at the local level, such as local franchising authority, taxation of businesses, teenage drinking, teenage smoking, and use of tobacco, licensing of massage and body piercing, all of which have in recent years been preempted in whole or in part. Preemption of local laws, including local business taxes, limits the ability of local government to deal quickly with problems, which are of concern to local citizens. It is almost impossible to predict the evolving nature of issues. State-mandated solutions which provide “one size for all” or remove local governments ability to deal with conditions of its own property or funding its own services unnecessarily limit the flexibility of local government. An option to preemption is for the State of Missouri to forge alliances with local government in the enforcement of laws, resulting in better enforcement and savings to the State.

C.1(b) Protection of Local Gross Receipts Taxes. The City supports efforts to oppose any attempt to reenact HB 209 (2005) or any similar legislation and to protect the local gross receipts on telephones from any other initiatives, which seek to preempt local telephone or cable television/video programming gross receipts taxes and franchise fees based upon gross receipts or any initiative which would prohibit municipalities from having gross receipts taxes on telephones, cable television services, video or voice services provided over internet protocols and franchise fees based upon gross receipts; or any initiative which proposes a new flat fee which in effect would be a new tax requiring a vote by the electorate in each city under the Hancock Amendment.

Capital, Fiscal Resources, and Economic Incentives

B.4 – In order for Missouri and its communities to compete for jobs, it needs to retain existing economic incentives comparable to what is offered in adjoining states. In addition, new legislation is needed to make the economic development package offered by Missouri and its communities competitive with other states. To that end:

1. The State, federal government and private sector should support efforts to provide access to seed and venture capital for viable projects by Missouri entrepreneurs.
2. The State should support efforts and provide funding to fully develop Jordan Valley Park with amenities such as an amphitheater and multi-purpose facility.
3. The State and Federal government, in conjunction with communities, must ensure that new and expanding businesses have access to competitively priced financing.
4. The City, in cooperation with the State and the Federal government, should continue to press for extension of tax-exempt industrial revenue bonds to provide financing for business expansions.
5. The State and Federal government should provide or allow for adequate funding tools for the funding for improvement and expansion of existing and future public infrastructure.

6. The State of Missouri should maintain its very basic economic incentive programs for new and expanding businesses, including but not limited to its composite taxable and tax-exempt financing programs, economic development tax credits, Environmental Improvement and Energy Resources Authority, the Missouri Industrial Development Loan Guarantees and various tax credits for seed capital funds. These programs should be maintained at existing minimal levels or increased.

   The City supports an amendment to the Missouri Quality Jobs program that would prohibit the granting of state incentives to existing Missouri business and industry who elect to relocate business operations within the State of Missouri.

7. The City supports the preservation of Chapter 353, the Urban Redevelopment Law, including the option of tax abatement without unwarranted restriction by other governmental units.
8. The City opposes legislation to exempt any governmental entity from being subject to requirements to contribute to the TIF allocation fund and opposes any attempt to change the purposes or types of development permitted under the TIF law.
9. Economic incentives by local and state government are essential to the continued development of the Center City of Springfield. The ability to leverage the benefits of economic growth with additional tax revenues created by the economic growth is a unique way to assist Center City redevelopment. Continued debt service appropriation by the State for the state-approved TIF which funds in part the Exposition bonds is critical to investor confidence. This is particularly true in situations such as the Springfield Exposition Center, where there is an extraordinary commitment by local government to provide key facilities and needed public infrastructure with private/public investment, which is part of an overall strategy to revitalize Center City.
10. Certain not-for-profit organizations such as the Discovery Center and the History Museum enhance the quality of life by serving as important educational institutions and as tourist attractions.