COLUMBUS — General Motors Corp. sought a change to the state's job retention tax credit that could help keep the company's Moraine plant open, legislators believe.

Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said GM's representatives who pushed for the amendment to the tax credit mentioned GM's SUV assembly plant off Stroop Road.

"They mentioned it (Moraine) specifically," Husted said Thursday, May 22.

Besides Moraine, GM has Ohio facilities in Defiance, Lordstown, Mansfield, Toledo and elsewhere.

The change extends the credit for three additional years or seven years total, whichever is longer, Husted said.

The automaker has identified the Moraine plant for neither closure nor a future product line. And Husted said the extension was not drafted to help GM only.

A GM-Moraine spokeswoman said she did not know if GM currently relies on the credit for the Moraine plant or any other GM Ohio plants.

Local leaders have lobbied GM to keep that plant open beyond 2010, when the plant's current complement of mid-size SUVs — like the Chevrolet TrailBlazer — is set to expire.

In March, a delegation of local government officials, led by David Hicks, Moraine city manager, drove to Detroit to meet with GM decision-makers.

"I think that (the tax credit) helps in that cause," Husted said.

"This action shows that Ohio is listening to the needs of business and is serious about attracting business investment in the state," Ken Mohre, assistant manager at the GM-Moraine plant, said in a statement.

"The Dayton region has some strong roots in automotive manufacturing, and we can't forget those vital roots," said Chris Kershner, Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce vice president of public policy and economic development.

The credit extension is part of House Bill 562, which was passed out of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee on Thursday.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or

tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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