Signed, Sealed & Delivered: Governor Holds MOSIRA Ceremony In Creve Coeur

The campus was the backdrop for made the case in support of the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act or MOSIRA prior to the special session of the Missouri state legislature.

Wednesday, Nixon returned to Creve Coeur for a ceremonial signing of the bill, which could give the Danforth Center backers new tools to attract new tenants at the life science campus.

, under the legislation, state revenues equal to a percentage of the growth in the wages paid to employees of existing science-based companies will be used to build what could be a $600 million fund to help lure science firms to the state and support start-up enterprises.

In the special legislative session, the bill's passage was tied to larger economic development package which ultimately did not pass. Governor Nixon still went ahead and signed the MOSIRA bill, under the belief that contingency clauses would not be upheld in court.

"Let me be completely clear as we stand here today. We are moving forward with MOSIRA. We know the promise it holds. We are entering a new era of innovation and enterpreneurship in Missouri and we will be using MOSIRA as a key economic development tool," Nixon said to an assembled crowd of local and state business leaders, lawmakers and Danforth Center backers.

Nixon said the state would start setting aside MOSIRA funds in February and that he would ask lawmakers to act to "decouple" the bill from the other economic development legislation.