SECOND REGULAR SESSION

House Concurrent Resolution No. 43

97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES HUMMEL (Sponsor), RIZZO, ENGLISH, SCHIEFFER, MCCANN BEATTY AND FRAME (Co-sponsors).

6250L.01I

            WHEREAS, Missouri is a pro-worker, pro-labor state and encourages factories and production facilities to protect and advocate for a skilled workforce; and

            WHEREAS, anti-labor groups in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the only United States-based Volkswagen plant is located, do not appreciate the value of working together to protect and advocate for working families; and

            WHEREAS, Volkswagen has a proud tradition of working with labor in plants worldwide; and

            WHEREAS, Missouri has a rich tradition of working with business and union leaders to develop and implement measures to support both groups; and

            WHEREAS, Missouri legislators came together in true bipartisan fashion for a special session in 2010 to consider and approve the Missouri Manufacturing Jobs Act to bring Missouri's automotive industry back from the brink; and

            WHEREAS, both the Ford plant in Claycomo and the GM plant in Wentzville continue to thrive and provide good jobs for Missouri families. Ford Motor Company recently announced that it will hire its 1,000th worker for production for the all-new Ford Transit in addition to another 175 workers who will begin in March of this year at the plant in Claycomo, and GM will begin production of the 2015 GMC Canyon at the plant in Wentzville; and

            WHEREAS, Janesville Acoustics, an automotive supplier, will build a new $13.4 million manufacturing plant in Warrensburg to create 164 new jobs; and

            WHEREAS, Governor Nixon continues to provide focused leadership on expanding and revitalizing Missouri's automotive manufacturing industry through a number of strategic efforts, including the Automotive Jobs Task Force, which falls under the Missouri Department of Economic Development; and

            WHEREAS, the Automotive Jobs Task Force is charged with:

            (1) Identifying current state economic policies and legislative enactments that help or hinder the development and retention of high-tech automobile production facilities within the state;

            (2) Evaluating the effectiveness of job training programs, both inside and outside of state government, in preparing workers for the future of the automotive industry;

            (3) Recommending legislative and policy solutions to strengthen the automotive workforce in Missouri in the short and long term;

            (4) Identifying opportunities for future innovation and investment in the industry;

            (5) Identifying sources for implementing any of its recommendations;

            (6) Issuing a report outlining its findings and recommendations; and

            WHEREAS, this task force was created in 2009 by executive order and has successfully identified ways state government can best help Missouri's automotive industry and the industries that are dependent on it, as demonstrated by the expansion of automotive manufacturing in Claycomo, Wentzville, and Warrensburg:

            NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-seventh General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby request the Automotive Jobs Task Force to meet and review the possibility of creating an incentive package to encourage Volkswagen to relocate its manufacturing plant to Missouri or any future expansion of their operations; and

            BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for Governor Jay Nixon, the eighteen members of the Automotive Jobs Task Force, and the Majority Floor Leader and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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