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October 7, 2009

Focus on Illinois: Area Legislators Discuss State Budget and Capital Project Funding

The RCGA’s Illinois Public Affairs Committee hosted a roundtable discussion with several members of Southwestern Illinois' legislative delegation at their September 25^th meeting. Rep. Dan Beiser (D-Alton), Rep. Tom Holbrook (D-Belleville), Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson, Sr. (D-East St. Louis) and Sen. David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville) previewed the upcoming veto session and reflected on the state's budget situation.

Revenues for the recently passed capital bill are coming in slower than forecasted, which could cause problems for projects in our region, according to the legislators. In the St. Louis region, the capital bill funds will be directed to road and bridge projects (including the new Mississippi River Bridge and the I-70/Route 3 interchange), renovations at the SIU-Edwardsville science building, and campus improvements at Southwestern Illinois College and Lewis and Clark College. New revenue sources that support the capital bill are from video gaming, increased taxes on wine, beer and liquor, expansion of the sales tax to candy and soda, and increased vehicle fees. The legislators believe that Governor Quinn may seek legislation to raise additional revenue for the capital bill by adding video poker machines inside race tracks.

Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson, Sr. (standing) spoke about the importance of high speed rail to East St. Louis at the RCGA's Illinois Public Affairs Committee meeting. Tim Garvey of the Southern Illinois Builders Association (left) and Doug Sitton of Sitton Construction Group and the IPAC chair listen to Rep. Jackson's remarks.

The Illinois General Assembly will convene their two week veto session on October 14^th with the budget as the central topic for debate. Governor Pat Quinn is expected to advance legislation to add $1 per pack to the cigarette tax to help fill a $200 million deficit in the Monetary Assistance Program (MAP). This higher-education grant program is used by 135,000 students, including 2,100 at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, to lower their tuition costs.

The RCGA’s Illinois Public Affairs Committee meets monthly in Collinsville. For more information contact Kevin Riggs at kriggs@stlrcga.org.

Missouri Senate Job Creation 2020 Committee Meets in Kansas City

The Missouri Senate’s new Job Creation 2020 Committee, chaired by Sen. Tom Dempsey (R-St. Charles), held its first substantive meeting at Rockhurst University in Kansas City on September 30^th. The RCGA was in attendance as the Committee heard from a wide variety of companies and organizations that support efforts to move Missouri forward with greater job opportunities in the next decade. For example, speakers from HNTB Corporation and Burns & McDonnell pointed out that four of the world’s largest architectural and engineering firms are located in Missouri, resulting in positive economic impacts locally caused by projects that are being constructed all over the world. They stressed the need for a well-trained workforce, the importance of infrastructure investment, and the need to ensure that such firms are not subjected to undue risk management concerns.

A representative of the Midwest Research Institute testified that “renewable energy is the new frontier in economic development,” and noted that commercialization of technology in this emerging industry has become the key issue in the path toward growth. Some states now offer incentives to attract further research and technology development in this area, and he urged that Missouri do likewise. In that regard, capital formation and commercialization of research discoveries are the focus of RCGA’s "Grow Me State" initiative, which is aimed at helping to close the “capital formation gap” between Missouri and competitive states.

Two former Kansas legislators also discussed how they developed the Kansas Economic Growth Act several years ago. This Act established the Kansas Bioscience Authority and set up a substantial multi-year funding program to promote growth and investment in the biosciences. The fundamental concept behind the Act is that for a century Kansas was dependent on agriculture, gas and oil and aviation to drive its economy, and that something more was needed for sustained growth in the 21^st century. Similar concepts are contained in the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA), which was considered by the legislature last year and will be introduced again in 2010.

The next meeting of the Senate Job Creation 2020 Committee is scheduled for October 28^th here in St. Louis. The RCGA expects to testify on capital formation and related entrepreneurial issues.

Region Prepares for High Speed Rail Improvements

Efforts to advance a high speed rail corridor from Chicago to St. Louis are moving at a rapid pace. Both Illinois and Missouri submitted project applications to the Federal Railroad Administration in August and plan to submit additional applications for corridor work in October. A majority of the requested funding will advance a 110-mph Chicago-St. Louis rail corridor. IDOT also submitted a $10 million request to conduct a feasibility study for a 220-mph Chicago-St. Louis route through Decatur and Champaign.

Illinois will follow its $545 million August applications with an October request for $2.4 billion for a full build-out of the 110-mph Chicago-St. Louis corridor and $108 million for station and platform improvements.

On October 9^th - 10^th the RCGA will participate in the Midwest High Speed Rail Association’s fall conference in Chicago, at which Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn will be speaking.

Map of the proposed Chicago Hub network for high speed rail in the Midwest, beginning with the Chicago-St. Louis corridor.

Stakeholders throughout the Midwest are closely coordinating their combined efforts to ensure that we remain competitive with strong proposals from California, Florida and the Northeast corridor. The RCGA strongly supports this transformational project that could have a tremendous impact on the St. Louis region for decades to come.

Metro Begins Formation of Long-Range Plan, Discusses Funding Challenges

On September 29^th the RCGA attended an executive briefing hosted by Metro on the transit agency’s long-range plan. Jessica Mefford-Miller, Metro’s Chief of Planning and System Development, discussed the process for crafting the proposal, which will consist of a 5-year, 10-year, and 30-year plan.

Metro will begin a series of public engagement workshops to solicit input for the long-range plan. The first meeting will be held on October 13^th from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. at the World Trade Center at 121 S. Meramec Avenue in Clayton. The final version is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2010.

The plan could focus on a variety of improvements, including an expansion of the MetroLink and MetroBus system, greater frequency, increased passenger amenities such as real-time schedule updates and more comfortable waiting areas, and expansion of high speed transit. It could also consider the introduction of new modes and technologies, such as commuter rail, bus rapid transit, flex routes with smaller vehicles, and intelligent transportation systems.

A MetroLink train headed for Shrewsbury travels along Forest Park Parkway. Metro ridership relieves area roadways of an estimated 45,000 cars every work day.

Bob Baer, Metro's President and CEO, stressed the need to find a long-term funding solution for the transit agency. Metro received an emergency appropriation of $12 million from the State of Missouri this year, but continues to seek a permanent and stable funding source. The RCGA strongly supports local and state efforts to increase funding for our region's transit system.

RCGA Announces "St. Louis Green Business Challenge"

At the September RCGA Board of Directors meeting, Tracy Hart, President of Tarlton Corporation and Board Chair for Energy and Environment, announced the launch of the RCGA's Green Business Challenge. The St. Louis RCGA Green Business Challenge is the first initiative from the St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project, the mission of which is to help lead the St. Louis region toward a greenbelt economy that fosters green savings, green opportunities, and green talent. The Challenge seeks to inspire St. Louis area businesses to become more sustainable through strategies to reduce energy usage and waste at the workplace. The initial phase of the Green Business Challenge will be limited to the first 100 RCGA-member companies to sign-up, and Hart enlisted Tarlton as the Challenge's first participant.

Based on a similar successful program now underway in Chicago, the St. Louis Green Business Challenge will help companies establish “green teams” and track their sustainability strategies and actions on a scorecard. Companies will start with a baseline score and then be recognized for their scorecard accomplishments during the Challenge. Throughout the Challenge, the RCGA will host information seminars, provide site visits to assist each company’s green teams and develop web site resources to support the participants. Enrollment for the Challenge will start in December, with the competition running from January to October, 2010.

Throughout this year, the RCGA has hosted several seminars on energy efficiency and sustainability, in addition to adding a focus on sustainability at the bi-monthly RCGA Energy and Environmental Council meetings. For more information on the St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project, please contact Eric Schneider at eschneider@stlrcga.org

Area Contractors Briefed on U.S. Military from Congressman Akin and General McNabb

U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Missouri)

On September 28^th, The RCGA hosted U.S. Representative Todd Akin's Defense Contractors' Summit. Congressman Akin (R-Missouri) serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and organizes these summits for the region's defense contractors to receive first-hand reports on the direction of the U.S. military.

With Boeing Integrated Defense Systems headquartered in St. Louis, a healthy defense contracting community has developed in the region that includes companies such as GKN Aerospace, Essex Industries, DRS Technologies, and QinetiQ North America.

This year's keynote speaker was General Duncan McNabb, Commander of U.S. Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base. General McNabb's command is responsible for the movement of the Armed Services and directs the movement of soldiers and equipment around the world. McNabb spoke about the USTRANSCOM's recent missions and their operations at Scott Air Force Base.

The defense contractors also learned about the challenges China poses from a political and security perspective from Dean Cheng, the new Research Fellow for Chinese Political and Security Affairs at the Heritage Institute. Cheng outlined China's security interests and recent changes in their military posture.

UPCOMING EVENT

November 19th (date change): RCGA Energy and Environmental Council meeting with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director Doug Scott. Director Scott will talk about his agency's priorities and activities in Southwestern Illinois. Sherri Bilderback, Manager of Public Relations for Prairie State Generating Company, will also speak on their new coal power plant in Marrissa and its innovative technology to capture emissions. In addition, an update on the St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project will be reported to Council members.

The meeting will be held from 8:00 - 9:30 a.m., location TBA. For more information and to RSVP, contact Sherri Bailey at sbailey@stlrcga.org

The RCGAdvocate is published periodically to inform RCGA members and government officials about important public policy matters at the state, federal and local levels. It seeks to provide timely, in-depth coverage on regional issues, and, at times, to call RCGA members to action. We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Richard C.D. Fleming ~ President & CEO ~ (314) 444-1100 ~ dfleming@stlrcga.org
Chip Casteel ~ Senior V.P. of Public Policy ~ (314) 444-1107 ~ ccasteel@stlrcga.org
Susan Stauder ~ V.P. of Infrastructure & Public Policy ~ (314) 444-1155 ~ sstauder@stlrcga.org
Eric Schneider ~ Senior Director of Public Policy Research ~ (314) 444-1148 ~ eschneider@stlrcga.org
Kevin Riggs ~ Director of Illinois Government Affairs ~ (314) 444-1108 ~ kriggs@stlrcga.org
Christine Snively ~ Project Manager of Public Policy ~ (314) 444-1144 ~ csnively@stlrcga.org
Sherri Bailey ~ Executive Assistant for Public Policy ~ (314) 444-1134 ~ sbailey@stlrcga.org

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Area Projects in Illinois Capital Bill

$300 million in funding for regional road and bridge projects including funding for the New Mississippi River Bridge and the I-70 Route 3 interchange

$79 million for renovation of the SIU-Edwardsville science laboratory

$19 million for improvements at Southwestern Illinois College

$16 million for projects at Lewis and Clark Community College and construction of the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center