JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Lawmakers endorsed a jobs-creation bill stacked with incentives for employers Friday in the last hours of the 2009 legislative session.

Earlier Friday, senators ended months of debate over whether the state’s budget could sustain the growth of tax credits and reached a compromise that capped certain credits while expanding others.

The Senate voted 26-8 to support the plan, while the House voted it up 153-2 just before 4 p.m. The General Assembly adjourned from its regular session at 6 p.m.

“This emergency jobs bill couldn’t come at a more important time,” said Gov. Jay Nixon, who in January called on the legislature to send the bill to his desk by mid-March.

Two job developments hinged on its passage, including the expansion of an innovative car battery plant in Lee’s Summit that could bring business to Northwest Missouri. Smith Electric Vehicle soon plans to open in Platte County, where it will produce electric vehicles using the batteries from the Lee’s Summit plant.

Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, said suppliers could sprout up in Buchanan County. “That will be a big deal,” Mr. Shields said.

The settled plan expands a state tax credit for employers who meet certain wage benchmarks and provide health benefits to their workers, known as the Quality Jobs program. The bill raises Quality Jobs’ existing cap of $60 million to $80 million and expands the definition to include certain technology companies.

The bill eliminates corporate franchise taxes, which Mr. Nixon said would help more than 15,000 businesses that pay $14.5 million in the taxes.

A lot of emotional debate and filibusters centered around the Historic Preservation Tax Credit program, which receives no legislative oversight and has exceeded $160 million annually. The bill limits the state to paying out $140 million a year for larger projects within the program to restore old buildings.

On Friday morning, Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, amended the bill to include an exception. There will be no cap on projects of $1.1 million or less, but those applicants can’t receive more than $275,000 in tax credits. Mr. Lager, one of the credit’s most vocal critics, offered the amendment to keep the bill alive.

“It’s about going into places and reclaiming abandoned buildings and neighborhoods,” Sen. Jeff Smith, D-St. Louis County, said when he defended the credit after 1 a.m. Friday. “This has been the most important program coming from the state for the city of St. Louis in 20 years.”

The bill also puts a greater emphasis on job training for new companies and increased reporting requirements on tax-increment-financing districts and transportation development districts.

“I’m hoping we can put 2,000 or more Missourians to work with this bill,” said Rep. Tim Flook, a Liberty Republican who authored the underlying bill.

Still, Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis County, called the jobs package “welfare for the rich.”

“As we end this session with an expansion of government in very difficult economic times, I just want us all to be aware that we’re heading down the wrong path,” Mr. Lembke said.

Alyson E. Raletz can be reached

at alysonraletz@npgco.com.