Sunday Poll: Would Video Gaming Help Missouri’s Budget?

There’s an effort in Jefferson City to bring in more revenue to Missouri, the way Illinois did 5 years ago:

Missouri could reap a $90 million per year jackpot if it allows slot machines in bars, truck stops and fraternal organizations, according to a new analysis of a gambling expansion proposal.

In addition to funneling more money to the state, members of a Senate panel Tuesday heard advocates say video gambling could generate an extra $20 million a year for local governments when as many as 15,000 machines are fully up and running by 2020.

The measure is being pushed by coin-operated vending machine companies, who’ve long wanted a chance to put terminals into local establishments over the objection of the state’s casino industry. (Post-Dispatch)

This is the subject of today’s poll.

This poll will close at 8pm tonight.

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis Board of Aldermen Week 37 of 2017-2018 Session, Last Friday Meeting This Session

The St. Louis Board of Aldermen will meet at 10am today, their 37th week of the 2017-2018 session.

No new board bills are on today’s agenda as this is the last friday meeting fir the 2017-2018 session. Below are many bills to finalize today. I don’t know their rules well enough but either some will be passed on Monday April 16th or they’ll suspend the rules to perfect them on the same day as the third reading…my money is on the latter.

8. Board Bills for Perfection – Informal Calendar.

• B.B. #129 – Vaccaro- An ordinance to make it unlawful, subject to those exceptions stated herein, for any person to ride, walk or otherwise lead a horse or horses on, along or over the public streets, alleys and sidewalks within the City and the paths and trails, and any extensions thereof within the City.
• B.B.#262AA – Roddy – An Ordinance affirming adoption of The City Foundry Saint Louis RPA2 Redevelopment Plan, the RPA2 Redevelopment Area and the RPA2 Redevelopment Project, authorizing the execution of a redevelopment agreement between the City and FoPa, for the City Foundry Saint Louis RPA2 Redevelopment Project; prescribing the form and details of said agreement; designating FoPa Partners, as developer of the RPA2 Redevelopment Area; making certain finding with respect thereto; authorizing other related actions in connection with the redevelopment of certain property within the RPA2 Redevelopment Area; and containing severability clause.

9. Board Bills for Third Reading – Informal Calendar.

• B.B.#40 – Vaccaro – An ordinance adding language to Ordinance 62101 that will prohibit the Parking Violation Bureau from doubling a parking meter and parking violation fine if payment is received within twenty calendar days or less. If an appeal of the fine occurs, either through an administrative or state court, where the appellant is found guilty, the fine will not double if payment is received within ten or less calendar days.
• B.B. #34CS – Ingrassia/Spencer/Martin/Guenther/Green/Cohn – An Ordinance facilitating safe passage to and from a health care facilities and prohibiting activities near certain facilities;  containing a severability clause and an emergency clause.

13. Second Reading and Report of Standing Committees.

• B.B.#204AA – Williamson – An ordinance approving a Redevelopment Plan for 1020 Union/ 5251 Cates.
• B.B.#266 – Navarro – An ordinance approving a Redevelopment Plan for 215 York.
• B.B.#270CS – J. Boyd – An ordinance approving a Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Program for the City of St. Louis; authorizing certain other actions; amending Ordinance 69427 pertaining to workforce inclusion by amending Sections Three, Four, Five, and Ten of said ordinance, which are codified as Sections 3.110.020, 3.110.030, 3.110.040, and 3.110.090 of the Revised Code, to increase percentage goals for minority, women, and city residents, and to put in place a mandatory one-year disqualification penalty and liquidated damages for developers and contractors who fail to meet the goals; and containing a severability clause.
• B.B.#222AA – Pres. Reed/Vaccaro/Muhammad/Arnowitz – An ordinance directing the Public Safety Director to complete an annual Public Safety Plan (the “Plan”) and present the findings of the Plan to members of the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Aldermen Public Safety Committee.

15. Perfection Consent Calendar.

• STR B.B.#265 – Davis – Pursuant to Ordinance 68937, an ordinance authorizing the honorary street name, Pastor Bennie Lee Thompson, Sr. Avenue, to begin at the intersection of Webster and Sheridan and run east on Sheridan to the intersection of Sheridan and North Garrison.
• STR B.B.#267 – Moore – Pursuant to Ordinance 68937, an ordinance authorizing the honorary street name, Frankie Muse Freeman Boulevard, to begin at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and North Sarah and run east on Lincoln to the intersection of Lincoln and Bishop P. L. Scott Avenue.
• STR B.B.#269 – Guenther – An Ordinance establishing a four-way stop site at the intersection of Iowa and Juniata regulating all traffic traveling northbound and southbound on Iowa at Juniata and regulating all traffic traveling eastbound and westbound on Juniata at Iowa, and containing an emergency clause.
• STR B.B.#271 – Davis/J. Boyd – Pursuant to Ordinance 68937, an ordinance authorizing the honorary street name, Norman R. Seay Avenue, to begin at the intersection of Thomas and Webster run south on Webster to the intersection of Webster and James Cool Papa Bell.
• HUDZ B.B.#171 – Spencer/Ingrassia – An ordinance to revise Ordinance 68610, approved March 16, 2010, pertaining to a semiannual registration fee of two hundred dollars for certain buildings and structures, by removing the fee exemption for properties subject to a specific redevelopment agreement with the City of St. Louis and its development agencies.
• HUDZ B.B.#204 – Williamson – An ordinance approving a Redevelopment Plan for 1020 Union/ 5251 Cates.
• HUDZ B.B.#206 – Kennedy – An ordinance approving a Redevelopment Plan for 5122-24 Kensington Area.
• HUDZ B.B.#220 – Ingrassia – An ordinance approving a Redevelopment Plan For the Locust/Jefferson Avenue Area.
• HUDZ B.B.#239 – Bosley – An Ordinance recommended by the Planning, to change the zoning of property in City Block 2485, from “G” Local Commercial and Office District to the “B” Two- Family Dwelling District, at 4231-41 N. Grand; and containing an emergency clause.
• PS B.B.#233 – P. Boyd/Bosley/Moore/Davis/Williamson/
  J. Boyd/Kennedy/Middlebrook/Muhammad/Hubbard/
  Pres. Reed/Spencer/Guenther/Green/Cohn/Ingrassia/
  Navarro – An ordinance amending Ordinance 69984 (which established the St. Louis Civilian Oversight Board) to empower the COB to issue subpoenas to compel the appearance of witnesses, produce documents, recordings and other evidence which the COB determines in its reasonable judgment are relevant and necessary to its thorough Inspection and Review of Complaints of misconduct by members of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department which may be subject to COB Independent Investigation.

17. Third Reading Consent Calendar.

• NDC B.B.#254 – Williamson – An ordinance approving a Redevelopment Plan for 1301 Union.
• HUDZ B.B.#186 – Davis – an Ordinance amending Ordinance No. 65857 pertaining to the Redevelopment Agreement between the City, and Grand Center, as amended, amending same to authorize an application for abatement for the 3637 Washington Fox Garage Project and further amending Ordinance No. 68874 by authorizing a Fifth Supplemental Trust Indenture; and containing a severability clause.
• HUDZ B.B.#245AA – Pres. Reed/Oldenburg/Roddy/Bosley/ Davis/Coatar/Murphy – An Ordinance directing the St. Louis Development Corporation to complete an annual City Economic Growth Strategy Report and present the findings of the Report to members of the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Aldermen Financial Analyst.
• HUDZ B.B.#261 – Roddy – an Ordinance recommended by the Tax Increment Financing Commission of the City to amend the City Foundry Saint Louis Redevelopment Plan and Redevelopment Project areas by amending the Redevelopment Plan by: (1) combining Redevelopment Project areas 2 and 3 into a new Redevelopment Project Area 2; (2) revising the boundary between Redevelopment Area 1 and the new Redevelopment Area 2; (3) changing the use in new Redevelopment Area 2 from residential to retail and office; (4) revising the financing plan to remove tax abatement as an incentive in Redevelopment Area 2; and (5) activating the new Redevelopment Area 2; establishing the City Foundry Saint Louis RPA2 Special Allocation Fund; making findings with respect thereto; authorizing certain actions by City Officials; and containing a severability clause.
• LEG B.B.#99FS – Pres. Reed/Vaccaro/Arnowitz/Navarro/Murphy/ Howard/Boyd – An ordinance pertaining to the collection of funds to assist in the prevention of domestic violence in support of individuals impacted; authorizing the Comptroller to establish “The Domestic Violence Prevention and Family Support Fund”.

The meeting begins at 10am, past meetings and a live broadcast can be watched online here. See list of all board bills for the 2017-2018 session.

— Steve Patterson

Opinion: The St. Louis Region Would Not Benefit From The Trump Administration’s Infrastructure Plan

Last month the Trump administration unveiled its infrastructure proposal.   Trump’s alma mater, the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, analyzed the plan:

Key Points

• President Trump recently released his updated infrastructure plan along with the Fiscal Year 2019 Budget. The plan proposes to increase federal infrastructure investment by $200 billion to provide incentives for a total new investment of $1.5 trillion in infrastructure.
• However, based on previous experience reviewed herein, most of the grant programs contained in the infrastructure plan fail to provide strong incentives for states to invest additional money in public infrastructure. Indeed, an additional dollar of federal aid could lead state and local governments to increase infrastructure total spending by less than that dollar since state and local governments can often qualify for the new grant money within their existing infrastructure programs. We estimate that infrastructure investment across all levels of government, including partnerships with the private sector, would increase between $20 billion to $230 billion, including the $200 billion federal investment.
• We estimate that the plan will have little to no impact on GDP.

Here’s their summary of findings:

The White House’s newest infrastructure plan proposes to increase federal spending by $200 billion to stimulate a total of $1.5 trillion in new spending across all levels governments and the private sector. However, based on past evidence, much of the new federal aid would lead to state and local governments increasing total infrastructure investment by less than the value of the aid itself. We estimate that total new infrastructure investment would increase between $20 billion to $230 billion, including the $200 billion federal investment. There will be little to no impact on the economy.

And their conclusion:

President Trump has presented a broad outline for infrastructure policy with a federal commitment of $200 billion. We find that most of the $200 billion will not be spent on programs that encourage state and local governments to vastly expand spending on infrastructure. As a result, the plan has a very small impact on the size of the economy. The plan produces slightly better outcomes when funded by user fees than when deficit-financed.

From the right-leaning Brookings Institute:

Not only does the administration not specify where it will find the additional $200 billion of direct spending it calls for over the next decade, but also it makes what most experts regard as wildly unrealistic assumptions about the amount of state, local, and private funding this modest increment will spark. Although the word “leverage” is sprinkled liberally throughout the plan, hardly anyone believes that $200 billion federal dollars will produce an additional $1.3 trillion investment from non-federal sources, especially when state and local budgets are being squeezed by rising costs for education and health care.

In recent years, both Republicans and Democrats called for dedicating to infrastructure some of the proceeds from repatriating corporate profits held overseas—an idea that Republicans rejected in their recent tax bill.

There are other options. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), the chair of the powerful House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, has floated the idea of raising the gas tax within the House Republican caucus. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a longtime advocate of increased infrastructure investment, has called for a 25-cent-per-gallon increase, which would raise $375 billion over the next decade. Some Republicans are calling for a carbon tax, which they regard as a better way of attacking climate change than detailed regulation with large compliance costs. Considering that a more efficient transportation system would also help reduce CO2 emissions, using some of the carbon tax proceeds for roads and highways would make sense.

If it passes the GOP-controllled congress it won’t have an impact here in the St. Louis region. Illinois & Missouri and our regional counties & municipalities are all strapped for cash. Missouri is unwilling to raise the fuel tax. Like the neoliberal Democratic plan to privatize the St. Louis airport. our public infrastructure could become private in an effort to fix it.

The view of one senator:

In California, Texas and South Carolina, privately owned toll roads went bankrupt or were foreclosed because of exaggerated projections from investors. Time and again, these private companies who take over public infrastructure showed they do not represent the public’s best interests.

In addition to the obvious siphoning of public resources that Trump’s tax breaks and private equity financing entail, his administration has been pushing “asset recycling,” i.e. selling off existing assets – like airports, bridges and highway rest stops – to private investors and using the revenue (“recycling” it) to fund new facilities.

It is important to note, moreover, that weak investment in America’s infrastructure is not due to lack of access to financing, but because of constraints associated with insufficient state and local government revenue. Trump’s public-private partnership model does not address this problem and, in fact, exacerbates it by increasing overall costs to taxpayers. And because smaller-scale projects, like those in rural areas, may not be profitable enough to attract private equity investors, his model risks leaving many parts of the country behind.

But Donald Trump wants to hand over more critical public infrastructure to private investors who will squeeze profits from the American people by putting up new tolls and exorbitant users’ fees. That would be unacceptable. We shouldn’t be selling off public assets to billionaires to make huge profits on the backs of working people.

Trump’s plan is the exact opposite of what we should be doing as a nation. Instead of creating more tax giveaways to corporate America and Wall Street, we should be eliminating tax loopholes that allow profitable corporations to stash their cash in offshore tax havens around the world. And we should be using this revenue to directly invest $1 trillion to modernize our nation’s infrastructure – a plan that would put 15 million Americans back to work in good-paying jobs.

The above is from SEn. Bernie Sanders.

This is where I’d normally include the results of the recent non-scientific Sunday Poll. However, shortly after the poll began I inadvertently tossed the post in the trash. I got busy during the day and didn’t recover the post until after the poll closed at 8pm.

— Steve Patterson

Metro’s New Store, Still Waiting For Smart Card Fare System

For many years our transit agency, Metro, operated a retail store as part of the convention center, known as America’s Center. It was connected to the visitor’s center at 7th & Washington Ave, This location was a block West of the Convention Center MetroLink station.

In a June 2013 post entitled Metro Fails At Retailing I wrote:

I’d like to see Metro make it obvious to anyone walking, or driving, past the MetroRide store to know it is a place to buy transit passes and pick up  schedules.  As a fan of gift shops, I’d also like to see St. Louis transit-related merchandise: t-shirts, postcards, magnets, calendars, etc. I still have a puzzle of the Philly transit map I bought on vacation in 2001, but I have almost nothing for St. Louis. I’d love a toy MetroBus.

Step up your retail game Metro!

They recently moved their store to the NW corner of 8th & Pine — in the Arcade building. The space was briefly occupied by Webster University’s cafe called Gorlok Grind (March 2016 — June 2017)

I have no knowledge of the old or new lease terms. Perhaps this new space will better serve Metro customers and attack some new riders. Though at a MetroLink station, it isn’t near any MetroBus routes. They might have done it, but they need a vending machine on Washington Ave to purchase passes/tickets — especially downtown trolley tickets.

What Metro really needs is the smart card system, from a July 2014 post on Metro’s blog:

The smart card is part of Metro’s new fare collection system, a more convenient, secure way to pay Metro transit fares. Instead of paper tickets or passes, the Gateway Card will contain a computer chip that stores Metro passes or cash value. The fare is automatically deducted when customers tap their card on fare equipment each time they ride.

“Much of our current fare collection equipment can be replaced with new technology to improve both our efficiencies as well as the customer experience.” said John Nations, Bi-State Development Agency/Metro President & CEO. “The Gateway Card and this new system will transform the way we do business and will bring our operations up to 21^st century standards.”

The smart card system is currently being tested in preparation for next year’s rollout. Hundreds of Metro customers have volunteered to test the new system before it is rolled out to the general public. Metro will gradually phase in Gateway Cards to its customer groups until all customers have moved to smart cards.

Nearly four years later and we’re still waiting for the rollout. I get their caution, the rollout of these new systems in other cities have gone poorly.

Chicago’s 2013 rollout, for example:

CTA fare options that expired this week are back in place until the company that is being paid almost a half-billion dollars to manage the implementation of the new Ventra system fixes problems that have left thousands of customers frustrated, the president of the CTA said Wednesday.

The transit agency made the abrupt, if temporary, reversal in response to angry riders who this week overwhelmed a Ventra hotline in an effort to activate their new cards and in some cases have demanded their old, time-tested fare-payment choices back.

So until further notice, sales of magnetic stripe transit cards will continue at rail stations, and Chicago Card customers will be allowed to add value to their cards. But CTA President Forrest Claypool said Wednesday he is determined to stick to a Dec. 15 deadline to stop accepting the old fare cards on trains and buses. (Chicago Tribune)

We began regular trips to Chicago a year later, the Ventra card system has worked great for us.

• No need to worry about having a stack of dollar bills or coins.
• No need to worry about holding onto transfers.
• Easily add more money to cards online or via our phones.
• In 2015 I got a reduced-fare card for Chicago.

In Chicago it’s rare to see a person using cash to pay bus fare and boarding goes so much quicker as a result.

Last September I spoke with Metro’s Executive Director Ray Friem about these cards at a ribbon-cutting event at their North Hanley Transit Center. Friem said they’ve been working on many pages of problems getting fare systems from two different vendors to play nice with each other. Metro uses one vender for MetroBus, another at MetroLink light rail fare gates.  When we spoke on September 28, 2017 he said the problems were down to just 3 pages and he expected a rollout late in the year — 2017.

My followup email from a month ago is still unanswered. You can see the draft Gateway Card website here.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Will The St. Louis Region Benefit From The Trump Administration’s Infrastructure Plan?

Last month the Trump administration unveiled its infrastructure plan:

President Trump’s long-awaited plan for overhauling the nation’s crumbling infrastructure includes spending $200 billion in federal money over the next decade to spur an additional $1.3 trillion in spending from cities, states and private companies on major projects, White House officials said on Wednesday, a formula that faces long odds on Capitol Hill.

The increased infrastructure spending would be offset by unspecified budget cuts. Officials would not detail where those cuts would come from, or how the proposal would effectively leverage at least $6.50 in additional infrastructure spending for every dollar spent by the federal government, a ratio many infrastructure experts consider far-fetched. The officials said Mr. Trump would leave it up to Congress — where there is little consensus about how to pay for such a plan — to figure out the details, giving lawmakers wide latitude in creating what would need to be a bipartisan bill against the backdrop of the midterm elections. (New York Times)

Here’s a little more on the proposal:

The White House says its plan will create $1.5 trillion for repairing and upgrading America’s infrastructure. 

Only $200 billion of that, however, would come from direct federal spending. The rest is supposed to come from state and local governments, which are expected to match any federal allocation by at least a four-to-one ratio. States have gradually assumed more of the responsibility for funding infrastructure in recent years, and the White House says it wants to accelerate that trend. 

“What we really want to do is provide opportunities for state and local governments to receive federal funding when they’re doing what’s politically hard, and increasing investment in infrastructure,” DJ Gribbin, Trump’s special assistant for infrastructure, said to theUnited States Conference of Mayors last month. 

However, existing funding sources — such as sales taxes that have already been levied to pay for transit projects — may count towards a local jurisdiction’s contribution. (CNN/Money)

This plan is the topic of today’s poll:

This poll will close at 8pm tonight.

— Steve Patterson