Treasurer focused on small business

The Independence Chamber of Commerce’s legislative briefing Friday morning marked several firsts.

It was the first time that State Treasurer Clint Zweifel briefed local business professionals. It was the chamber’s first legislative briefing outside of the normal Missouri General Assembly session.

It was the first briefing without Independence resident Pat Barnhard, who had previously organized the briefings.

State Rep. Paul LeVota, D-Independence, remembered Barnhard, who most recently served as the chamber’s governmental affairs chairman. Barnhard died unexpectedly July 14 at age 41.

“(Clint Zweifel) is here because my friend Pat Barnhard said, ‘We want the new state treasurer here,’” LeVota said. “We talk a lot about moving our city ahead, and I’m just going to miss Pat. We’ve got a lot of things going on in Independence, and our statewide people should know about that – Pat understood that.”

Zweifel, 35, is Missouri’s youngest state treasurer in more than 100 years. A Democrat, he is the first person in his family to attend college. He previously served in the Missouri House of Representatives for six years.

Among his responsibilities as treasurer, Zweifel oversees the management of Missouri’s investments, including $20 billion in annual state revenues and the state’s $3.5 billion investment portfolio.

Zweifel said the state virtually had no economic development programs specifically for businesses with fewer than 100 employees when he took office earlier this year. He spearheaded the Invest in Missouri legislation, which furthers the Missouri Linked Deposit Program in providing low-interest loans for small businesses and farms.

“For the first time in history, taxpayers in Missouri – when I place a deposit into a bank – will get a market rate of return,” Zweifel said, adding that Invest in Missouri will return about $15 million to the state. The state then plans to reinvest that return into communities and small businesses, he said.

Jim Hinson, Independence School District superintendent, asked Zweifel regarding the state’s sales tax revenue predictions with Proposition C. (Missouri voters passed a 1 cent sales tax increase in 1982 to supplement school funds.)

“All of our sales tax revenues are going downward at this point, and projections right now have it down 4 percent for the next fiscal year,” Zweifel said. “We don’t go beyond predicting that. Even predictions within a fiscal year generally aren’t always exactly accurate.”

Jim Denning, 2009 chairman of the chamber’s board of directors, questioned Zweifel on the state’s projected tax revenues for the year’s remainder and into 2010.

“Obviously, it’s a difficult situation in the state, and I think tough decisions are going to have to be made,” Zweifel said. “For the last fiscal year, I think that a state can adjust pretty quickly and deal with changes in the revenue stream pretty quickly and address those by making cuts, which is what happened.

“For the next fiscal year, there’s even bigger challenges because I think the results of less revenue coming in will be even clearer over a 12-month period.”

Denning also asked Zweifel to make a political prediction of whether the state would reduce its expenses or opt to increase taxes if the decline in revenues continue.

LeVota answered following Zweifel’s comments.

“I know, for sure, the legislature doesn’t have any feelings at all to raise any taxes, and I know the governor doesn’t either,” LeVota said. “I couldn’t imagine that happening. That’s going to be a very extreme case if that happens.”