FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 29, 2009

Contact:
Jon Galloway
(573) 751-7595 - Office
(573) 418-2923 - Cell
jon.galloway@treasurer.mo.gov

Treasurer Zweifel's Invest in Missouri Signed by Governor Nixon
INVEST IN MISSOURI to reinvest $1 billion in Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY - State Treasurer Clint Zweifel's economic development legislation, INVEST IN MISSOURI, was signed by Governor Jay Nixon today at stops in St. Louis and Kansas City. The legislation reinvests $1 billion in Missouri communities.

"INVEST IN MISSOURI is about creating and retaining Missouri jobs and reinvesting more than $1 billion in Missouri communities," Treasurer Zweifel said. "INVEST IN MISSOURI enables us to expand investments in small business, manufacturing, green technologies, family farms and community banks."

Treasurer Zweifel said the legislation costs Missourians nothing and would return $10 to $15 million per year to taxpayers' investments when fully phased in as changes to investment practices will allow taxpayers to receive a market-rate of return for the first time in 50 years.

"This session was about creating jobs in the short-term and transforming Missouri into a 21st-Century economy," Governor Nixon said. "INVEST IN MISSOURI does that, and I applaud Treasurer Zweifel for doing so in a fiscally-responsible and bipartisan fashion. This legislation invests in communities, and strategically aligns statewide efforts to get this economy moving in the right direction again."

INVEST IN MISSOURI did not register a single "No" vote in committee or on the House or Senate floors. Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg, and Rep. Tim Flook, R-Liberty, sponsored the bills.

The signed legislation, which goes into effect August 28, expands eligibility guidelines for the Missouri Linked Deposit Program, which places state funds with community banks at below-market interest rates so the community bank can issue loans to borrowers at a reduced rate. Loan savings are usually 2 to 3 percent to the borrower. The program's $720 million statutory cap is only about 30-percent utilized. Expanded eligibility guidelines will open up the state's small business, job creation, agriculture and alternative energy loan programs to more businesses and farmers. Local government assistance linked deposits will also become available as part of the legislation.

"Small businesses and family farms in Missouri can use the interest-rate savings provided by the Missouri Linked Deposit Program for investing right back into their businesses," Treasurer Zweifel said. "These investments add up overtime to make a significant impact on our economy."

Additionally, INVEST IN MISSOURI phases out, over five years, the statutory interest rate cap that ties state time deposits to the return of short-term U.S. Treasury securities. That yield has been as low as 0.20 percent this year. Removing the restrictive cap will allow the state to receive a yield closer to the rates offered by banks to an individual, business or any other government entity in Missouri. The change will result in increased returns to taxpayers of about $10 to $15 million per year once the cap is fully phased out by law. The phase out will begin January 1. "Governor Nixon set the priority of investing in small businesses in Missouri and INVEST IN MISSOURI does that. I applaud the handlers of this legislation, leadership of both parties and supporters of the bill," Treasurer Zweifel said. "There was commitment to pass this legislation at a critical time in our state, and that is exactly what has been accomplished."