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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 1659
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
3889H.02C JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 620, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to incentives for
converting a business to produce certain strategic materials.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 620, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 620.1646, to read as follows:
620.1646. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Missouri
2 Defense and Energy Independence Act".
3 2. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
4 (1) "Department", the department of economic development;
5 (2) "Qualified company", a business entity headquartered or regi stered to do
6 business in Missouri that completes a verified conversion of its facilities to pro duce one
7 or mor e strategic materials;
8 (3) "Qualified conversion costs", expenses a qualified company incurs as part of
9 the conversion including, but not limited to, capital investments, including a minimum
10 private capital investment of at least five hundr ed thousand dollars, and any expenses
11 for labor , materials, and other expenses dir ectly relat ed to the conversion;
12 (4) "Strategic materials", includes critical chemicals, gases, metals, minerals, or
13 pharmaceutical ingr edients deemed essential to defense, national health security , or
14 energy res ilience, as designated by the department in consultation with the United States
15 Department of Energy or United States Department of Defense.
16 3. Ther e is here by established a grant pr ogram within the department of
17 economic development to encourage and assist qualified companies in converting their
18 facilities to pro duce strategic materials within the state of Missouri. Grant moneys,
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
19 upon approp riation, shall be awarded to qualified companies according to the
20 pr ovisions of this section.
21 4. When applying to the department to qualify for a grant under this section, a
22 qualified company shall:
23 (1) Submit a conversion plan to the department that includes:
24 (a) The timeline for the completion of the conversion;
25 (b) The strategic materials to be pr oduced; and
26 (c) The number of anticipated jobs to be creat ed or ret ained in Missouri;
27 (2) Demonstrate that the company incurr ed a minimum private capital
28 investment cost of five hundred thousand dollars;
29 (3) Pr ovide documentation to the department certifying compliance with the
30 state's labor , envir onmental, and tax laws; and
31 (4) Pro vide any further supporting documentation requ ested by the department
32 r elating to the qualification pro cess.
33 5. (1) A qualified company shall complete the department-appr oved conversion
34 plan within the time frame established by the department, but not later than twenty-
35 four months fr om the date of the award of moneys.
36 (2) If a qualified company fails to complete the appr oved conversion within the
37 time frame set out in subdivision (1) of this subsection or fails to comply with any of the
38 department's re quir ements for completing the conversion, a qualified company shall
39 r epay the entire amount of the moneys awarded or a pr oportionate amount of the
40 moneys awarded, based upon the guidelines or parameters established by the
41 department.
42 6. (1) There is hereby cr eated in the state tr easury the "Missouri Defense and
43 Energy Independence Fund", which shall consist of moneys appr opriated by the general
44 assembly not to exceed ten million dollars annually , subject to appr opriation. The fund
45 shall also include any gifts, contributions, grants, or bequests re ceived fr om federal,
46 private, or other sources . The state tr easurer shall be custodian of the fund. In
47 accordance with sections 30.170 and 30.180, the state tre asure r may appr ove
4 8 disbursements. The fund shall be a dedicated fund and, upon appr opriation, moneys
49 in the fund shall be used solely as pr ovided in subsection 7 of this section.
50 (2) Notwithstanding the pro visions of section 33.080 to the contrary , any moneys
51 r emaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not r evert to the credit of the
52 general reven ue fund.
53 (3) The state tre asurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as
54 other funds ar e invested. Any interes t and moneys earned on such investments shall be
55 cr edited to the fund.
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56 7. (1) The department shall establish pr ocedur es for the solicitation, evaluation,
57 and appr oval of grant applications re ceived fr om qualified companies. A qualified
58 company may submit a grant application for the award of moneys for qualified
59 conversion costs incurr ed by the qualified company as prov ided in this subsection.
60 (2) The department shall evaluate each application and appr ove or r eject such
61 application. Subject to appr opriations, upon appro val of an application, the
6 2 department shall administer a grant award of moneys fr om the fund in an amount
63 not to exceed one million dollars per grant application per fiscal year .
64 (3) Moneys granted to a qualified company under this section shall be used solely
65 for qualified conversion costs incurr ed for the completion of the conversion.
66 8. The department shall submit a full report to the general assembly not later
67 than December thirty-first of each year . The repo rt shall include the number of total
68 applications that wer e received during the fiscal year , the number of pr ojects appr oved,
69 the total number of moneys awarded, and the estimated economic impact to the state.
70 9. The department shall promul gate all necessary rules and r egulations for the
71 administration of this section including, but not limited to, rules rela ting to the
72 verification of a qualified company's qualified amount and qualified conversion costs.
73 Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is creat ed
74 under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies
75 with and is subject to all of the pr ovisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section
76 536.028. This section and chapter 536 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested
77 with the general assembly pursuant to chapter 536 to rev iew , to delay the effective date,
78 or to disappr ove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant
79 of rulemaking authority and any rule pr oposed or adopted after August 28, 2026, shall
80 be invalid and void.
81 10. The pr ovisions of the new prog ram authorized under this section shall sunset
82 ten years after the effective date of this section unless rea uthorized by an act of the
83 general assembly .
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