by Michael R. Allen
No St. Louisan that I know has seen the text of Sen. John Griesheimer‘s amendment to the Quality Jobs Act (SB 282), scheduled for consideration by the Economic Development, Tourism & Local Government Committee on Wednesday. According to an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the amendment would create a $100 million subsidy for land acquisition related to development projects larger than 75 acres in the city of St. Louis. The amendment also has the backing of Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder, who is credited with making the proposal.
Supposedly, the subsidy is sought by a St. Charles County developer for a project in north St. Louis. While this developer knows about the amendment, neither my state senator nor my alderperson knows a thing about a proposal with huge ramifications for the city of St. Louis and its residents.
We need to know exactly what is being proposed — and why it is being proposed hastily without input from St. Louisans. A program like the one proposed potentially could be beneficial to the city, with proper input from seasoned urban developers, citizens and St. Louis elected officials.
City residents, please contact your state senators:
Harry Kennedy, D-1st: (573) 751-2126
Jeff Smith, D-4th: (573) 751-3599
Maida Coleman, D-5th: (573) 751-2606
You can send email using this form.
Also, here are the current members of the Economic Development, Tourism & Local Government Committee:
John Griesheimer, R-26th, Chair: (573) 751-3678
Chris Koster, R-31st, Vice-chair: (573) 751-1430
Jason Crowell, R-27th: (573) 751-2459
Kevin Engler, R-3rd: (573) 751-3455
Jack Goodman, R-29th: (573) 751-2234
Carl Vogel, R-6th: (573) 751-2076
Victor Callahan, D-11th: (573) 751-3074
Harry Kennedy, D-1st: (573) 751-2126
Ryan McKenna, D-22nd: (573) 751-1492
Wes Shoemyer, D-18th: (573) 751-7852
Again, emails can be sent using this form.
Lt. Gov. Kinder can be contacted at (573) 751-4727 or ltgov@mail.mo.gov.