1. No category

April 20, 2015
Representative John Diehl
Speaker of the House
Missouri House of Representatives
201 West Capitol Avenue, Room 308
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Dear Speaker Diehl:
On behalf of Civic Progress, whose 35 members comprise the largest employers in the
St. Louis region, and the Regional Business Council, whose members comprise the leaders
from 100 of the region’s largest mid-cap companies, we write to you today with serious
concerns regarding the status of transportation funding in Missouri. That is, there are
significant and substantial reasons that the business community supports legislative action
by the Missouri General Assembly that will fix the current funding problems faced by the
Missouri Department of Transportation. These problems include:
 Budgets forecast to drop to $325 million a year in 2017 from $1.3 billion in 2009 – a
75-percent decrease.
 The lower budget cannot adequately maintain the 34,000 miles in the state’s road
system. With $325 million, MoDOT will be able to maintain only primary roads,
mostly interstates, in the St. Louis region, leaving 26,000 miles of major secondary
roads, (e.g. Lindbergh, Olive, Manchester, etc.) starting to deteriorate.
 Matching federal transportation dollars – $400 million a year starting in 2017 – are
at risk of flowing to other states starting in 2017.
These outcomes are unacceptable to the St. Louis business community. There is a proposal
to solve the problem that has our wholehearted and unqualified support: legislation that
enables a two-cent gas tax added each year for the next three years and then indexed to
keep up with inflation. This legislation allows Missouri to match federal funds and enables
MoDOT to:
 Maintain the entire 34,000 miles of state roads in the condition it is today.
 Re-engage in some of the major corridor planning studies that have been suspended.
 Reinstate the Cost Share Program that has been suspended.
Even this proposed legislation does not solve all the transportation problems in Missouri. It
is, at best, a “finger in the dike” and does not address long-term, reasonable, appropriate
and stable funding for our state and regional transportation needs. It is, however, a start. If
this temporary solution to keep roads and bridges is not acceptable, we are open to other
ideas to fix this pressing problem.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Irwin
Executive Director, Civic Progress
Kathleen T. Osborn
Executive Director, Regional Business Council
April 20, 2015
Senator Tom Dempsey
President Pro Tem
Missouri Senate
201 West Capitol Avenue, Room 326
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Dear President Dempsey:
On behalf of Civic Progress, whose 35 members comprise the largest employers in the
St. Louis region, and the Regional Business Council, whose members comprise the leaders
from 100 of the region’s largest mid-cap companies, we write to you today with serious
concerns regarding the status of transportation funding in Missouri. That is, there are
significant and substantial reasons that the business community supports legislative action
by the Missouri General Assembly that will fix the current funding problems faced by the
Missouri Department of Transportation. These problems include:
 Budgets forecast to drop to $325 million a year in 2017 from $1.3 billion in 2009 – a
75-percent decrease.
 The lower budget cannot adequately maintain the 34,000 miles in the state’s road
system. With $325 million, MoDOT will be able to maintain only primary roads,
mostly interstates, in the St. Louis region, leaving 26,000 miles of major secondary
roads, (e.g. Lindbergh, Olive, Manchester, etc.) starting to deteriorate.
 Matching federal transportation dollars – $400 million a year starting in 2017 – are
at risk of flowing to other states starting in 2017.
These outcomes are unacceptable to the St. Louis business community. There is a proposal
to solve the problem that has our wholehearted and unqualified support: legislation that
enables a two-cent gas tax added each year for the next three years and then indexed to
keep up with inflation. This legislation allows Missouri to match federal funds and enables
MoDOT to:
 Maintain the entire 34,000 miles of state roads in the condition it is today.
 Re-engage in some of the major corridor planning studies that have been suspended.
 Reinstate the Cost Share Program that has been suspended.
Even this proposed legislation does not solve all the transportation problems in Missouri. It
is, at best, a “finger in the dike” and does not address long-term, reasonable, appropriate
and stable funding for our state and regional transportation needs. It is, however, a start. If
this temporary solution to keep roads and bridges is not acceptable, we are open to other
ideas to fix this pressing problem.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Irwin
Executive Director, Civic Progress
Kathleen T. Osborn
Executive Director, Regional Business Council