Senator Mike Cunningham – Footing the Bill with the Taxpayer Dime

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Greetings, and welcome to the beginning of the second regular session of the 98th General Assembly. The 2016 Session officially began at noon this past Wednesday, and my fellow lawmakers and I are looking forward to improving issues facing Missouri transportation, legislative ethical standards, and many other areas as well as bettering our cooperation with the Missouri House of Representatives throughout the rest of Session.

 
I will be keeping you updated on all of the developments here in the Capitol throughout the coming months, though today I wanted to take some time to discuss two specific issues I believe should be brought to the forefront of the public’s knowledge. These subjects are the taxpayers’ money that is being spent to fund a largely meaningless presidential primary; and the ridiculous consideration of millions of dollars of funding to be spent in St. Louis for the construction of a wholly unnecessary football stadium over the next decade.

Missouri’s presidential primaries are scheduled to take place on March 15 this year, which puts our state well behind the six February caucuses that are most commonly used by the national parties to decide their national convention delegates. Missouri’s primaries used to be held earlier, in February, and our state was one of the first voices heard during the primary election. However, the governor moved the date of the primaries – which cost Missouri taxpayers around $7 million to fund – to mid-March in order to abide by new guidelines passed by the delegations. This is effectively curbing the importance of the Missouri election and discouraging voters from participating. In short, this decision has turned the upcoming Missouri primaries into a costly beauty contest paid for by the public, which will have a very small amount of actual impact.

I would also like to talk about a letter Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard sent to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay at the end of last month. Sen. Richard’s letter described the Missouri Senate’s intentions concerning the paying of $12 million in General Revenue funding annually to the city’s sports authority. St. Louis elected officials have told top NFL officials that these payments will continue in the coming years and will help fund the proposed new stadium in the city. Sen. Richard informed the mayor that not only does the Senate not agree with the St. Louis city government’s assumptions of continued payments, the annual $12 million a year will possibly be cut off before its proposed sunset date in 2022.

I wholeheartedly back Sen. Richard’s letter, as do many of my colleagues, constituents and fellow Missourians. The state’s General Revenue fund monies should not be bound to the building of a new, costly, unnecessary NFL stadium in a city that already has one, with a team that might not even be located in the state in the coming years.

Local projects that benefit local municipalities should be funded with local dollars. Many other state agencies and programs that help improve the lives of Missourians could use $12 million a year to make more meaningful differences in Show Me State citizens’ lives than this proposed sports stadium ever could. Throughout this session, my fellow legislators and I pledge to continue keeping the Senate focused on doing what is best for Missouri and its people as a whole.

As always, I appreciate it when groups from around Missouri and from our community back home come to visit me at the Capitol. If you would like to arrange a time to come and visit me in Jefferson City, or if you ever have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact my Capitol office at (573) 751-1882.