I guess our state isn’t in such a state after all. Our friends in Jefferson City recently passed House Bill 45, which creates an income tax deduction for new jobs created by Missouri’s small businesses. Effective for taxable years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2011, and ending on or before Dec. 31, 2014, a business employing fewer than 50 full- or part-time employees can take a $10,000 deduction for each new full-time job with an annual salary of at least the county average wage. The deduction increases to $20,000 for employers who also offer health insurance and pay at least half of the insurance premium. The county average wage is determined by the state Department of Economic Development for the most recently completed calendar year. The statewide average wage will be substituted if it is less than the county average wage.
Fiscal analysis of the bill estimated 94 percent of Missouri firms would qualify as small businesses under the act. The new deduction is expected to create tax benefits of $600 to $1,200 per new job, potentially saving Missouri businesses up to $21.4 million per year. The bill, signed into law July 8, 2011, is intended to spur economic growth and protect small businesses in Missouri.
See, if you look close enough you can find the good in any situation – even a slow economy. As the American writer David Bach once penned so eloquently: “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls the butterfly.” And so it goes with us. We can choose to believe all the negative hype because they will always make it sound worse than it actually is, or make a decision to try and do something about it. Maybe it’s as simple as adopting a positive attitude and a smile, or passing a bill to stimulate local jobs. Simplistic? Sure, but aren’t we all just craving a simpler life anyway?
A smile from the heart knows no language, yet it communicates perfectly, and in doing so demonstrates quite clearly the gap we think exists between us does not exist. It can unveil what we’ve kept hidden and leave both of us shining brighter.
There is a word for this that exists in the ancient Sanskrit language: namaste. It essentially means “the light in me acknowledges the light in you.”
A franchise store of a Branson West-based quilting business made its Queen City debut; Grateful Vase launched in Lebanon; and Branson entertainment venue The Social Birdy had its grand opening.
