JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri House passed a bill Monday that would allow pregnancy resource center and maternity home donors to continue receiving a tax credit for their donations.
HB 655, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Engler, R-Farmington, applies to donations to pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes, estimated to cost up to $5 million. Currently, there are 69 pregnancy resource centers in the Show-Me State.
Currently, donors who give at least $100 to pregnancy resource centers can claim a 50 percent tax credit for their contributions. The cap on donations per year sits at $50,000, but a donor is allowed to carry an excess credit into the next four fiscal years.
The current tax credit is set to expire in Dec. 2019, but if Engler’s bill becomes law, that deadline would be extended to 2026. The expiration of maternity homes tax credits is June 30, 2020.
The centers have been controversial in recent years as several abortion rights proponents argue that these centers spread misinformation concerning reproductive health and limit access to contraceptives, calling them “fake clinics.”
Opponents of the legislation also point out that the tax credits continue to be a burden on Missouri’s budget problems, saying the money could be used to shore up other areas. But supporters say that without the tax credits, funding would need to come from somewhere else.
The centers were created in order to provide other options to abortion by providing free assistance to women with unplanned pregnancies or crises by helping them carry the pregnancy to term. Maternity homes provide shelter for homeless pregnant women and their children. Both also provide counseling, parenting skills, education and job assistance.
The House voted 122-33 to pass the measure on Monday afternoon. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
“I hope this bill comes back to us from the Senate with a solution that we can finally approve,” Engler said on the House floor. “If not, the worst case is we extend the tax credit, which is, I think, the desire of most people.”
Benjamin Peters was a reporter for The Missouri Times and Missouri Times Magazine and also produced the #MoLeg Podcast. He joined The Missouri Times in 2016 after working as a sports editor and TV news producer in mid-Missouri. Benjamin is a graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield.
