Committee hears bills to extend and remove sunset for food pantry tax credit

The Ways and Means Committee heard two related bills on the same subject: House Bill 2,457 (sponsored in committee by Representative Patty Manser) would extend an existing tax credit for food pantries, soup kitchens and homeless shelters, add food banks as qualifying entities, raise the program cap and extend the expiration date; House Bill 1,782 (sponsored by Representative John Boss) would remove the sunset for the food pantry tax credit.

Representative Manser told the committee HB 2,457 would extend the credit currently scheduled to expire in 2026 out to 2032, add food banks to the list of qualifying organizations and raise the cap from $1,750,000 to $4,000,000 to address rising food costs. She said her original version proposed a 70% credit rate but recommended following Representative Motto’s HB 2,461 and keeping the credit at 50% to spread available funding further.

John Boss said HB 1,782 would eliminate the sunset provision for the food pantry credit; he argued that removing repeated review would reduce administrative burden and that the General Assembly can still change or repeal the credit later if needed. Representative Taylor asked why the sunset should be removed rather than left in place for periodic review; Boss said the legislature can revisit and amend credits if problems emerge.

Multiple witnesses testified in support: Kevin Hurdle and Braden Pemberton (Community Services League) said adding food banks and keeping the credit reliable helps organizations plan and serve clients. Samuel Lee (Campaign Life Missouri) provided informational testimony noting that some other benevolent tax credits (domestic violence shelter, adoption credit, pregnancy resource center credit) have no sunset; he also said the Appropriations Committee reviews credits’ performance.

No witnesses registered opposition during the hearing. Sponsors said they plan to roll similar language together in the committee process for further consideration.