State Treasurer Zweifel urges importance of new legislation

Adam Van Hart
Rolla Daily News
Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 06:09pm CDT

Missouri State Treasurer Clint Zweifel was at Missouri S&T on Tuesday to promote the recently passed "Invest in Missouri" legislation.

"When we started to put this legislation together, we looked at how important it was Missourians needed our help now," Zweifel told S&T faculty and local residents at the Butler-Carlton Engineering building.

Invest in Missouri, which was passed in June and goes into effect at the end of August, has two components. One, an expansion of the existing program, Missouri Linked Deposit (MLDP), and the removal of the statutory-interest rate cap on the state's time deposits.

The MLDP provides funds to community banks that provide low-interest loans, which save borrowers 2 to 3 percent, for small businesses in any field.

The program, however, was only using about 30 percent of its $720 million, according to Zweifel.

The changes expand the eligibility requirements of the program. Previously, the program capped the number of employees a business could have at 25. Under the new, guidelines companies can have up to 100 employees and still qualify.

Zweifel also wants to reduce the amount of time it takes to obtain a loan, from months to one week. The change is aimed at opening the state's small business, job creation, agriculture and alternative-energy loan programs to more businesses and farmers, according to Zweifel's Web site.

"We are looking at strategic investments to get people back to work," Zweifel said.
According to Zweifel, the program also is aimed at creating more money to provide about $1 billion to these investments.

The change in the statutory interest-rate cap concerns the return the state can receive on bank deposits that, by law, has been capped. Removing the restriction allows the government to earn yields closer to what individuals and businesses make.

The legislation invests about $500 million into general time deposits, according to Zweifel's Director of Communications, John Galloway. These deposits are investments in Missouri banks, which according to Galloway are doing much stronger than some of the national banks.

That investment, which according to Galloway is being fueled by funds in the state budget that are currently not being used, such as funds from the Missouri Department of Transportation or the

Department of Natural Resources, could yield $10 to $15 million a year.

"That $500 million is apart of the $1 billion investment," Galloway said.

It was the second time this month a state official has come to S&T to promote legislation and tour the Structures Lab at Butler-Carlton Civil Engineering building - Gov. Jay Nixon previously came to sign two pieces of legislation promoting science education.

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