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Bill Summary · HB 2211

Overview

HB 2211, introduced in Missouri's 2026 session, creates a new Office of Workforce Coordinator within the Department of Economic Development and establishes a parallel "Workforce Housing Tax Incentives Program." The bill outlines the coordinator’s duties to advance workforce development and to improve access to employment resources for specific populations, alongside a tax-incentive program to encourage the development of workforce housing.

Purpose and intent

  • Establish a centralized Office of Workforce Coordinator to drive Missouri’s workforce development efforts.
  • Coordinate and streamline access to workforce programs, align interagency resources, and focus on future-of-work needs.
  • Target improvements for underserved populations, workers with disabilities, veterans, foster youth, mid-career professionals, and formerly incarcerated individuals.
  • Promote real-world training and work-based learning, including innovative methods (virtual job shadowing, job simulations, and employer-coached pedagogy).
  • Expand access to workforce resources for workers transitioning from declining to growing sectors, with a special emphasis on quantum computing-related skills.

Key provisions and changes

  1. Office of Workforce Coordinator (Section 620.541)

    • Created in the Department of Economic Development.
    • Comprised of a single director who operates independently from the Missouri Workforce Development Board but collaborates with it.
    • Responsibilities include identifying programs and best practices, integrating services, targeting underserved groups, gathering ongoing feedback, and promoting disability and reentry employment initiatives.
    • Emphasizes readiness for work, upskilling for the future, and supports for digital transformation and emerging technologies (notably quantum computing).

  2. Workforce housing tax incentives program (Sections 620.2022 to 620.2028)

    • Establishes the Workforce Housing Tax Incentives Program to spur housing development connected to the workforce.
    • Defines terms for brownfield/grayfield/greenfield sites, housing projects, and related concepts.
    • Housing projects must meet minimum dwelling-unit counts and qualify via rehabilitation or greenfield development in specified contexts.
    • Sets cost controls: maximum average dwelling-unit costs by project type/location, with allowances for certain rehabilitative costs.
    • Requires compliance with HUD housing quality standards (24 CFR 982) and local safety standards.
    • Housing businesses apply competitively; local government participation and funding match (at least $1,000 per dwelling unit) are required.
    • Includes an agreement with the department, reporting obligations (including past violations) and a review process.
    • Caps: maximum $1 million total incentives per housing project; disaster-recovery housing projects capped separately at $35 million total, with $17.5 million reserved for small cities.
    • Compliance fees: a $500 one-time fee and an ongoing 0.5% fee of the incentive value for larger awards.
    • Completion timeline: typically 3 years, with possible up to two 12-month extensions for good cause.
    • Post-completion: requires CPA-attested project examination, final qualifying investment statements, and related compliance documentation.
    • Outcomes: tax incentives can be claimed as a sales-tax refund (pre-completion) and as a 20% tax credit of qualifying new investment (beginning 2027), with transferability provisions and recapture/repayment rules for noncompliance.
    • Sunset: the workforce housing incentives program sunsets on December 31, six years after the act’s effective date.

Who or what would be affected

  • Employers, developers, and housing businesses seeking workforce-related incentives.
  • Local governments, which must participate and provide matching funds.
  • Missouri workers, especially those in underserved or transitional groups, including people with disabilities and formerly incarcerated individuals.
  • Departments of Economic Development and Revenue, which would administer the program and related tax credits/refunds.
  • Communities in disaster areas eligible for disaster-recovery housing incentives.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Applications for the housing program are competitive and first-come, first-served within annual periods until caps are reached.
  • Completion deadlines and possible extensions are defined, with milestones for audits and certification.
  • Sunset provisions activate six years after the bill’s effective date unless reauthorized.
  • Rules and administration: the departments may promulgate necessary rules, with nonseverability provisions and relation to the Mississippi-style rulemaking framework (as drafted).

Overall, HB 2211 aims to strengthen Missouri’s workforce development infrastructure and spur targeted housing development tied to employment, with a strong focus on accessibility, accountability, and long-term program sunset.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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