JEFFERSON CITY — The House Committee for Commerce heard a bill Monday that would reward firms that produce critical materials and pharmaceuticals with tax exemptions.
The exemptions are meant to incentivize Missouri firms to increase their investment in the procurement of critical minerals and the production of essential drugs.
In 2025, Ned Mamula, director of the United States Geological Survey, announced the official list of critical minerals. The USGS is a division of the United States Department of the Interior, whose definitions for critical minerals are used in Senate Bill 1553.
"This is the most comprehensive, science-based assessment yet of the minerals our nation relies on," he said. "Critical minerals underpin industries worth trillions of dollars, and import dependence puts key sectors at risk."
Similarly, the Food and Drug Administration published a list of more than 200 essential medicines in 2020. They include commonly used drugs like aspirin, penicillin and morphine, which are all largely manufactured outside of the United States.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Kurtis Gregory, R-Marshall, argued that increasing the production of these materials in Missouri could help the nation to stop relying so heavily on foreign imports.
"The bill is purely about national defense and trying to restore very critical supply chains back to the United States of America," Gregory said. "Not only through pharmaceuticals, but through critical materials and metals."
Cobalt, classified as a critical mineral by the DOI, is essential to the construction of valuable products like cellphones and fighter jets.
Douglas Jost, chief innovation officer at Jost Chemical Company in St. Louis, said that Missouri and other states are sitting on unused deposits of the mineral. Yet worldwide, most of the mining for cobalt is funded by China and conducted using unfair labor practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Jost took the stand after Gregory in support of the bill.
"Our problem with China is that they make 80% or 90% of the medicines and also a variety of critical materials for us," he said. "So, they really can bend our needs if they want to."
Another supporter, Micah Gibbons of the Doe Run Company, said he liked that the proposed tax credits would be transferable. Doe Run is the largest mining company in the state.
"We're not sure if this bill is particularly beneficial to Doe Run, but certainly in this field, we think it could be very helpful," he said. "The fact that these tax credits are transferable makes it a much more effective program."
In all, three people testified in support of the bill. They all argue that critical mineral and medicine production has the potential to be a lucrative business in Missouri, but that investment costs are so high that firms need help from their government.
SB 1553 was passed out of committee the House floor after a unanimous 9-0 vote in favor by the committee.