Missouri senators have passed legislation offering up to $1.7 billion of incentives over two decades for Boeing to assemble a commercial airplane in St. Louis.
Senators passed the bill 23-8 today (Wednesday) while meeting in a special session called by Gov. Jay Nixon. The bill now goes to the House for its consideration.
Kurt Schaefer, who represents Boone and Cooper counties, voted against the bill, while Mike Kehoe of Callaway, Cole, Miller, Moniteau and Morgan counties voted yes.
Missouri is one of more than a dozen locations invited by Boeing to bid on assembling the new 777X airplane.
Most other states are crafting their proposals privately. But Nixon called a special session because he wanted to offer more incentives than currently allowed under state law.
Under Missouri's plan, the amount of incentives Boeing gets would depend on the number of jobs created.
Supporters say the Boeing project includes 2,000 to 8,000 company jobs, plus thousands of more at its suppliers.
Meanwhile, Missouri's neighbor Kansas is assembling an economic incentive package geared at landing the 777X contract.
If Kansas gets the contract, it could result in between 7,000 and 10,000 new aviation jobs in the Wichita area.
Kansas is relying on existing economic incentive programs related to job training, workforce development and provisions that could allow the expensing of new equipment purchases over several years.
