Missouri lawmakers appear poised to approve a major tax break for the $3 billion-plus expansion of a factory that makes parts for America's nuclear weapons arsenal, a factory that has also recently faced oppositon from residents and protesters.
The state House of Representatives signaled support for the plan in a voice vote last week, the Kansas City Star reported Monday.
A similar bill got the green light from a state Senate committee last month, the Star said.
The measures would provide a sales tax exemption for the purchase of materials to add about 2.5 million square feet of office and manufacturing space to the National Nuclear Security Administration's plant in south Kansas City.
The factory is run by Honeywell International Inc., which the Defense News website ranks as the nation's 23rd largest military contractor.
It's unclear how much revenue would be lost by granting the tax break but nonpartisan House staffers have estimated the fiscal impact "could be significant," according to the Star.
The House bill's sponsor, Republican Rep. Chris Brown, said during last week's floor debate that the sales tax exemption would be the same as what the federal goverment would automatically get if it were to handle construction.
Brown also called it a "a small ask if you look at the long-term economic impact."
Democratic Rep. Michael Burton, who represents the St. Louis area, called the proposal "corporate welfare."
"Why, as opposed to having sales tax exemptions for regular Missouri folks when it comes to their groceries, do we not do that?" he asked.
A local developer is set to start work on the project later this year, with construction slated to continue into the "early 2030s,' an agency spokesperson told the Star.
The factory's workforce has grown from 2,400 when it opened in 2014 to 7,000 now and the expansion would allow for an "additional volume of work," according to the National Nuclear Security Administration, an arm of the Energy Department.
About 50 people protested near the plant's entrance on Monday, with at least 10 arrested on trespassing charges, according to the Star.
One demonstrator, local activist Ann Suellentrop, told the Star she opposed the building of more nuclear bombs.
"We're going the wrong way. We're manufacturing our doom," said Suellentrop, a retired pediatric nurse who sits on the board of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Charles Carney, a member of the Catholic Worker movement, also called making nuclear weapons a "moral outrage."
