December 15,
2010
Meet Me in St. Louis – Missouri Highways
and Transportation Commission Comes to Town
On November 30th the RCGA and
St. Louis Homebuilders Association (HBA) teamed up for the
24th consecutive year to host the Missouri Highways
and Transportation Commission (MHTC) at a reception with business
and civic leaders from across the region. RCGA’s
President and CEO Dick Fleming and
Pat Sullivan, HBA’s Executive Officer, welcomed
Commission Chairman Rudy Farber (pictured right)
and his colleagues on the eve of their annual meeting in St.
Louis. Attendees also had an opportunity to become better
acquainted with Ken Suelthaus, a new MHTC
commissioner from St. Louis, and congratulated new MoDOT
Director Kevin Keith on his recent
appointment. Keith had been MoDOT’s chief engineer for the
past nine years prior to being selected.
|
RCGA's Dick
Fleming (above left) addresses attendees at the
MHTC reception.
|
Fleming complimented the
commission on building an award-winning transportation system in
a challenging fiscal environment. He called
special attention to two projects underway in the region that are
key to transforming our future – the New Mississippi River Bridge
and the City|Arch|River 2015 project.
|
| (from
left)
Walter Metcalfe of Bryan
Cave, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
Superintendent Tom Bradley,
and MoDOT District Engineer Ed Hassinger discuss the
City|Arch|River 2015
project. |
St. Louis Mayor Francis
Slay, Walter Metcalfe, senior counsel
at Bryan Cave and City|Arch|River Foundation member, and
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Superintendent Tom
Bradley were on hand to talk about the effort to reshape
connections between the Arch, the City and the River. New
Mississippi River Bridge project manager Greg
Horn and Mark Schnoebelen, Vice
President at Massman Construction, pointed out the progress of
construction on the new bridge, which could be seen from the
reception venue at Kemoll’s on the 40th floor of the
Metropolitan Square Building.
|
 |
MHTC Commissioner Ken Suelthaus
(left) and St. Louis Mayor Francis
Slay.
|
Mark Schnoebelen (left)
of Massman Construction and Tom Barta of Fred
Weber.
|
|
| (from left)
MHTC Commissioner
Grace Nichols, St. Charles
County Executive Steve Ehlmann, Gene Stumpf
of Stumpf Homes, co-host Pat
Sullivan of HBA, and Greg Rolwes of Rolwes
Homes. |
The following day Fleming
presented testimony to the MHTC, pledging to work as part of the
Missouri Transportation Alliance to create a new vision for the
state’s transportation future by fostering an informed grassroots
dialogue. Fleming also noted the importance of
working collaboratively with MoDOT to move forward on multi-modal
transportation initiatives and the Midwest-China Hub
project.
|
|
|
About the MHTC
|
Six-member bipartisan board that
governs MoDOT.
Commissioners are appointed by the
Governor to six-year terms.
No more than three commissioners may be
of the same political party.
Responsible for appointing MoDOT's
Director.
Current Members
Rudolph E. Farber,
Chair
(R - Neosho)
David A. Gach, Vice
Chair
(D - St. Joseph)
Grace M. Nichols
(D - St. Charles)
Lloyd J. Carmichael
(D - Springfield)
Stephen R. Miller
(R - Kansas City)
Kenneth H. Suelthaus
(R - St. Louis)
|
|
|
Focus on Illinois:
RCGA's Illinois Public Affairs Committee Discusses 2011
Priorities with Legislators
On December 10th the RCGA’s
Illinois Public Affairs Committee held its final 2010 meeting
with key Southwestern Illinois business leaders and downstate
elected officials to discuss regional priorities for the 2011
legislative session that begins on January 12th.
Spearheaded by IPAC Chairman Doug
Sitton, President of Sitton Construction Group, the
committee had productive discussions with Sen. Bill Haine
(D-Alton), Sen. David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville) and
Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon) about the
importance of returning stability to the State’s budget.
IPAC members voiced concern that the State’s growing debt and
financial instability is adversely affecting the region’s
economic growth, and encouraged legislators to take the difficult
steps necessary to reduce the State's $13 billion budget
shortfall and restore fiscal stability.
(from
left) IPAC Chair Doug Sitton, Sen.
David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville), Vaughn Vandegrift, Chancellor of
SIU-Edwardsville, and Sen. Bill Haine (D-Alton) chat before the
meeting.
Members of the
downstate delegation concurred with IPAC on the importance of
balancing the State budget, noting IPAC's position that
a revenue enhancement mechanism should only be passed if there is
first a commitment to spending reductions, including holding off
on the creation of new programs unless they can be shown to lead
directly to job creation and revenue growth.
(from left) RCGA
IPAC members Ryan Kemper of Thompson Coburn, Madison County
Chairman Alan Dunstan, Dennis Wilmsmeyer of Tri-City Regional
Port District, Emmy McClelland of St. Louis Children's Hospital,
Frank Miles of Tri-City Regional Port District, and Jim Pennekamp
of SIU-Edwardsville.
Additionally, there was agreement that
Illinois needs to become more business friendly to
enhance its ability to attract more jobs. For
example, members of the downstate delegation discussed the need
for comprehensive reform of workers’ compensation, the State
pension systems and Medicaid. The regional legislators were
optimistic that substantive reforms could take place next year,
due to the establishment of bipartisan commissions on these
matters by the House and Senate.
|
|
|
|
|
RCGA Government Affairs
Team Gears Up for 2011 Legislative Sessions
As 2010 comes to a close, the RCGA's Government Affairs
team is busily preparing for the 2011 legislative sessions in
Missouri and Illinois. To help you get to know us a little
better, we've included a brief description below of our
government affairs staffers and some of the ways they serve our
members.
Kevin Riggs -- Director, Illinois Government
Affairs
Kevin leads the organization's lobbying
and public policy efforts in Illinois, handling a wide range
issues including appropriations, transportation, health care,
economic development, workers' compensation, insurance, and
utilities. He provides professional staff support to the
RCGA's Illinois Public Affairs Committee and works closely with
other regional stakeholders, such as the Leadership Council
Southwestern Illinois, Metro-East county and municipal
governments, and local chambers of commerce. He also plans
government affairs events in Springfield, including the RCGA's
annual Illinois Lobby Day and House vs. Senate Softball
game. Kevin has been with the RCGA since 2004.
Christine Snively -- Director, Government
Affairs
Christine leads the development of the
RCGA's annual Legislative Agenda, tracking and advocating for key
policy issues throughout the year. She provides
professional staff support for the RCGA's Public Policy Council
and is responsible for planning government affairs events
including RCGA's Missouri Legislative Day and legislative
breakfasts, Lewis & Clark Statesman Awards, and the Public
Policy Speakers Series. She also coordinates RCGA's work
with a number of organizations, including the Missouri Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, the Missouri Biotechnology Association,
the Missouri Growth Association, and the Partnership for Downtown
St. Louis. Christine also manages the RCGA's state
Political Action Committees in Missouri and Illinois. She
has been with the RCGA since 2007.
Sherri Bailey -- Executive Assistant, Public
Policy
Sherri provides administrative support
for a wide variety of department meetings and events, including
RCGA's Legislative Days, Lewis & Clark Statesman Awards,
Public Policy Speakers Series, and regular PPC and IPAC meetings,
as well as the RCGA's Climate Prosperity Project and Green
Business Challenge. She handles all the administrative
matters that are necessary to keep the department running
smoothly and efficiently, from invoices to attendance
lists. Sherri has been with the RCGA since 2009.
|
|
|
|
Upcoming Events
Jan. 12 -- Missouri Legislative Breakfast
in Jefferson City
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
