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January
14, 2009
Missouri Senate Appropriations Chair
Speaks to RCGA Public Policy Council
Missouri Senate Appropriations
Chairman Rob Mayer (R-Dexter) spoke to the RCGA Public
Policy Council on January 8th about the status of the
Missouri budget and the outlook for the next fiscal year.
Sen. Mayer discussed the new Consensus
Revenue Estimate (CRE) for FY2011 and the adjusted CRE for
FY2010. The State expects modest growth in FY2011 with a
CRE of $7.22 billion, which is a small increase from the $6.97
billion CRE for FY2010 but still $780 million short of actual
collections in FY2008. Sen. Mayer cautioned that
changes in federal law, especially regarding health care, could
further strain the budget in FY 2011.
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| Sen. Rob Mayer
discusses Missouri's budget outlook with the RCGA's Public
Policy Council. |
On the other hand,
to help Missouri grow and prosper in the future, Senator
Mayer voiced his support for one of RCGA's top
priorities this session, which is passage of the Missouri Science
and Innovation Reinvestment Act (MOSIRA). Senator Mayer
said it is a step in the right direction to invest in high tech
scientific jobs and industries with high growth potential. He
also lauded some of the General Assembly's past achievements that
have helped improve the State's business climate, including civil
litigation and tort reform, workers compensation reform, passage
of Missouri Quality Jobs, and last year's modification to the
corporate franchise tax exempting many small businesses.
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Brien Starner of the Blue
Springs
Economic Development
Corporation
outlines his vision for state
investment
in targeted industry clusters
and
partnerships with higher
education
institutions.
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Brien Starner, President of the Blue Springs Economic
Development Corporation, presented to the Public Policy
Council on "Missouri Jobs for the Future," a
proposed economic development tool to promote the growth of
targeted industry clusters in areas with a significant presence
of a Missouri-based higher education institution. The program
would allow local entities to capture a portion of new
incremental state sales and income tax revenues from a project
area for up to 25 years.
RCGA lobbyist Kim Tuttle
also provided an update on the 2010 legislative session, which
started Jan. 6th. Notable changes include two new
legislators from the St. Louis region: Sen. Joseph
Keaveny (D-St. Louis), and Rep. Stacey
Newman (D- Clayton), as well as
three new committee chairs: Senate
Appropriations Chair Rob Mayer, Senate Education Chair David
Pearce (R-Warrensburg), and House Insurance
Chair Steve Hobbs (R-Mexico).
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New Missouri legislators Senator
Joseph Keaveny (D-St. Louis)
and Represenative Stacey
Newman (D-Clayton). |
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Kim Tuttle describes changes in the
Missouri
legislature. |
Kim also described issues gaining
attention at the Capitol, including ethics reform, autism health
insurance coverage, evaluation of tax credit programs, and
toughening the state's DWI laws.
She also noted the growing
support for MOSIRA, which was endorsed by Governor Jay Nixon in
December, and the legislation's potential inclusion of a
"continuum of capital" program, which includes key concepts from
the RCGA's "Grow Me State"
initiative. |
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Meet Missouri Senator Rob Mayer
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Senate Appropriations Chair
Represents the 25th Senatorial District
in southeastern Missouri
Elected to the Senate in 2004. Served in
the House from 2000 to 2004
Graduate of Southeast Missouri State
University (BA) and the University of Missouri - Kansas City
(JD)
Other Committees:
- Education (former Chair)
- Agriculture, Food Production and
Outdoor Resources
- Judiciary and Civil and Criminal
Jurisprudence
- Joint Committee on Education
- Joint Committee on Capital
Improvements and Leases Oversight
- Joint Committee on Missouri's Energy
Future
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Focus on
Illinois: Senator Clayborne Discusses Illinois Budget and 2010
Priorities
On December 18th
Illinois Senate Assistant Majority Leader James Clayborne,
Jr. (D-Belleville), was the guest
speaker at the RCGA's Illinois Public Affairs Committee meeting,
where he discussed the very difficult budgetary challenges facing
the State. A recent report by Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes
estimates that Illinois faces a $11 billion shortfall
for 2010, more than 20% of its general fund. The state
already owes $5.1 billion in upaid bills to health care
facilities, educational institutions, and social service
agencies.
Senator Clayborne said the State
needs to be more efficient in its expenditures. He also
expressed concern that Illinois cannot afford unfunded federal
mandates, and recommended that the General Assembly work in a
bipartisan fashion to solve the State's fiscal crisis. He does
not think a tax increase will be passed in 2010, making
additional budget cuts and borrowing likely.
Aside from the budget, Sen.
Clayborne's top priorities for the 2010 legislative session are
to ensure southwestern Illinois capital projects stay at the
forefront for funding under the 2009 Capital Bill, pass
the STAR (Sales Tax And Revenue) Bonds legislation he sponsored
last year, and expand the New Markets Tax Credit program, all of
which are also top priorities for the RCGA.
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| RCGA
Launches St. Louis Green Business Challenge - Enrollment Now Open
to RCGA Members!
A major step
forward in the RCGA’s St. Louis Climate Prosperity Project is the
launching of our St. Louis Green Business Challenge
to inspire regional businesses and organizations to
become more sustainable. RCGA Energy and Environment
Chair Tracy Hart announced at the November RCGA Board meeting
that her company, Tarlton, will be the first company to enter the
Challenge. In addition, Ameren, Bryan Cave, Burns &
McDonnell, Christner, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, Gallop
Johnson & Neuman, Geotechnology, Inc., HOK, Madison County's
Treasurer's Office, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis RCGA and
3Degrees signed up to be the charter participants of this
inaugural Challenge. Enrollment in the Challenge is now open to
all RCGA member companies and organizations, but the first round
is initially limited to 100 participating companies.
Sustainability as a path to regional economic
growth is one of the four strategic initiatives directing the
RCGA’s activities in 2010. This initiative, named the St. Louis
Climate Prosperity Project, will lead the St. Louis region toward
a “greenbelt economy” that fosters green savings, green
opportunities and green talent. The St. Louis Climate
Prosperity Project is one of eight pilot projects selected by the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the national Climate Prosperity,
Inc. organization, aimed at demonstrating that regional responses
to the environmental imperatives of climate change also enhance
the region's economic vitality. St. Louis joins Silicon Valley;
Seattle/King County; Denver; Montgomery County/Washington metro
region; Portland, Oregon; and the states of Delaware and Florida
as pilots in the national project.
The Green Business Challenge will use a
scorecard to measure savings and sustainability achievements in
six areas: energy, waste, indoor environment, water,
transportation, and outreach. Challenge teams determine
their baseline score and then improve on their baseline by
implementing sustainability strategies throughout 2010.
Companies will be recognized for their improvements and
accomplishments at a special RCGA event in November.
To support
the Challenge teams, the RCGA has engaged the EarthWays
Center, a division of the Missouri Botanical Garden and
a regional leader in promoting sustainability through
environmental education and improving the built environment.
Glenda Abney, Director of the EarthWays Center,
and her staff will provide consulting assistance for the
Challenge, answer questions for participating teams and assist
the RCGA in monthly seminars that inform teams on sustainability
strategies related to the Challenge scorecard.
The RCGA thanks the St. Louis Green Business
Challenge Advisory Committee for developing the
scorecard and assisting in reviewing the scorecards of
the Challenge teams. Members
of the Advisory Committee are:
- Glenda Abney, Earthways Center
- Susannah Fuchs,
American Lung Association
- George Fujii,
Tarlton Corporation
- Sara Graham,
HOK
- Daniel
Jay, Christner and Sustainable St. Louis
- Steve Poplawski,
Bryan Cave
- Richard Reilly,
industrial consultant
- John Traeger,
Gallop, Johnson & Neuman and Sustainable St.
Louis
- Seth Teel, HOK
- Mark Vantrease,
Ameren |
To sign-up your company
for the inaugural St. Louis Green Business Challenge, contact
Eric Schneider at eschneider@stlrcga.org and for more information on the Challenge go
to www.stlouisgreenchallenge.com.
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High
Performance Building Seminar Presents the Business Case for
Building Green
The RCGA and the U.S. Green Building Council have
organized the St. Louis High Performance Building
Initiative, a seminar series to promote the value of
green buildings. These seminars encourage businesses to “green
every office” by demonstrating that every employer can improve
energy efficiency, financial savings and workplace productivity
through higher performing buildings. The series kicked-off in
December with a keynote address by U.S. Representative Russ Carnahan, Chair
of the bi-partisan Congressional High Performance Building
Caucus.
The second
seminar focused on the business case for building green and how
companies can improve the planet, profit from energy and waste
savings, and improve the health and productivity of their
people. Paul Todd Merrill, Director of Sustainable
Construction at Clayco, Marc Lopata, Senior Vice President -
Engineering at Azimuth Energy Systems, and Matt Malten, Assistant
Vice Chancellor for Sustainability at Washington
University presented their organization's experiences in
implementing green building strategies.
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Paul Todd Merrill, Director of
Sustainable
Construction,
Clayco |
Paul Todd Merrill provided an overview of the U.S. Green Building
Council and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) Rating System. St. Louis should be very proud of its
stock of green buildings and talent located in the region with
more than 150
LEED-registered buildings and 800 LEED-accredited professionals
in design and construction. He expects even greater
opportunities for green building to grow in the St. Louis region
and sees a growing commitment to building green by area
contractors and buildings owners. Clayco's local projects
include the LEED-Platinum Novus International office headquarters
and the LEED-Gold BJC Healthcare Data Center, both of which are
located in St. Charles. To view his presentation, click
here.
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Marc Lopata, Sr. Vice President -
Engineering, Azimuth Energy
Systems |
Marc Lopata laid out the business case for green buildings.
Companies use green
building design and construction to mitigate their risk for high
energy costs, carbon legislation and resource constraints.
Lopata walked the seminar attendees through specific examples of
how LEED certification saves money and yields a strong return on
investment through cost reductions in energy, waste, and water.
New research from CoStar found that LEED-certified buildings have
3-4% higher occupancy rates, earn $2 more per square feet and are
worth 20% more in value. On-site renewable energy has become
more attractive, although in Missouri the payback takes longer.
Lopata said that photovoltaic panels and solar thermal are still
feasible in this area when taking into account available rebates
and grants. To view his presentation, click here.
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Matt Malten, Asst. Vice
Chancellor for
Sustainability, Washington
University
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Washington University is committed to
constructing buildings with an LEED certification of Silver or
better for all their campus buildings, said Matt
Malten. This level of construction is vital for
Washington University to reduce their carbon footprint. Since
1990, greenhouse gas emissions per capita dropped 7.4%, while the
campus grew in square footage by 87%. Last summer Washington
University opened the Tyson Living Learning Center, a zero-waste,
zero-energy building in Eureka. Construction is nearing
completion on the LEED-Gold Brauer Hall that will house the
International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and
Sustainability (I-CARES) and will use renewable energy
equipment. To view his presentation, click here.
The next seminar of the High
Performance Building Initiative will be held on February
2nd from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m.
at the RCGA's Regional Collaboration Center. The topic will
be "Greening Existing Buildings - Certification and
Incentives." The program will feature case studies on
retrofitting an office space to LEED standards and the financial
incentives for green building. To register for this seminar,
contact Sherri Bailey at sbailey@stlrcga.org.
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RCGA Presidential
Sponsors Kick Off Missouri Legislative Breakfast
Series
On January
13th the RCGA hosted the first of its biweekly
legislative breakfasts in Jefferson City honoring members of the
General Assembly. The breakfast, which attracted more
than 50 attendees, was hosted by the RCGA's Government Affairs
Sponsors: AmerenUE, Anheuser-Busch Companies,
AT&T, BJC HealthCare, Edward Jones, Enterprise Holdings,
Monsanto, Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation, and the St. Louis
Cardinals.
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(from left) Rep. Rachel Storch (D-St. Louis) and
breakfast host Tina Shannon, Legislative Representative for
AmerenUE.
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(from left) RCGA Public Policy Council Chair
John Sondag, Vice President - External Affairs at AT&T, Rep.
Scott Dieckhaus (R-Washington), and RCGA Senior Vice President -
Public Policy Chip Casteel.
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(from left) Rep. Bert Atkins (D-Florissant),
Mindy Lewis, Senior Government Affairs Analyst at Smurfit-Stone
Container Corporation, and Rep. Chuck Gatschenberger (R-Lake St.
Louis).
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| The next legislative breakfast will be held on
Wednesday, January 27th and
is sponsored by the University of Missouri-St.
Louis. If you are in Jefferson City, please feel free
to stop by anytime between 7:00 and 8:30 a.m. Located in the
Bella Vista Room of the Doubletree Hotel. |
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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 Energy & Environment ~ (314)
444-1148 ~ eschneider@stlrcga.org
Kevin Riggs ~ Director of Illinois
Government Affairs ~ (314) 444-1108 ~ kriggs@stlrcga.org
Christine Snively ~ Director
of Government Affairs ~ (314) 444-1144 ~ csnively@stlrcga.org
Sherri Bailey ~ Executive Assistant for Public Policy ~
(314) 444-1134 ~ sbailey@stlrcga.org
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