The Kansas House approved a bill last week that would offer up to $100 million in income tax credits over five years to investors throwing resources into job-creating business developments in rural areas of the state.
As The Topeka Capital-Journal reports, provisions of the bill, which passed the House by a vote of 97-22, would be implemented starting in 2020. The amount of the tax credits issued wouldn’t exceed $20 million annually and investment companies could begin applying for eligibility after Jan. 1, 2018.
Opponents of the bill raised questions about the estimated $600,000 annual operational costs to the state if the bill is passed and if enough safeguards were included in the bill to ensure that it would expand jobs in a rural economy suffering from weak oil and farm commodities.
Republican representative Tom Sloan said the state should make certain rural Kansas businesses have access to high-speed internet services, quality health care and job training programs.
The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce on Thursday.
