BALL PORK LEGISLATION
SENATE BILL 1279
(SCS for SBs 1279,1162 & 1164) FAILED in the 2002 legislative
session.
Under this bill the state would have paid $7 million a year for 30 years for a new St. Louis Cardinals baseball stadium. Kansas City's football and baseball stadiums were to get $9.8 million a year for 30 years. Springfield was to receive $18 million over a 23-year period to help build a new exposition hall. And Branson was to get $32 million to fund a convention center and arena.
The Senate passed this bill by a vote of 19 to 14 on May 7. This is the record of how senators voted:
YES: (19)
Bentley, Bland, Childers, Coleman, Dougherty, Gibbons, Gross, House, Jacob, Kennedy, Kenney, Kinder, Klarich, Loudon, Quick, Sims, Staples, Wiggins, Yeckel.
NO: (14)
Caskey, Cauthorn, Foster, Goode, Johnson, Klindt, Mathewson, Rohrbach, Russell, Schneider, Singleton, Steelman, Stoll, Westfall.
Senator DePasco was absent with leave.
See summary and text of SB 1279:
http://www.senate.state.mo.us/02info/bills/SB1279.htm
We know from experience that Missouri's revenues cannot be accurately predicted from year to year. We also know that human services and education are seriously underfunded every year. The "projects" funded in this legislation were labeled "economic development projects" or "community development projects." But there is no evidence that such projects would benefit the people of Missouri.
The Position of MISSOURIANS for TAX JUSTICE on the Stadium Legislation
Please thank the senators who voted against SB 1279. Senators Sarah Steelman, Larry Rohrbach, Wayne Goode, and John Schneider successfully added many amendments to address some of the worse flaws of the legislation, and attempted to convince colleagues that this legislation was wrong because it had the wrong priorities for the use of taxpayer funds.
In the HOUSE, Rep. Jim Murphy deserves thanks from everyone for his two year effort to convince legislators that using public funds for any of the proposed stadium projects was wrong.
The Coalition Against Public Funding for Stadiums (CAPFS) was successful in their initiative petition drive for a City Ordinance to require voter approval before any City funds can be used for a professional sports facility. This initiative ordinance was approved by St. Louis City voters at the November 2002 election.
An initiative petition drive for a St. Louis County charter amendment was launched by CAPFS on March 11. To help, call the phone number below.
For more information about the continuing efforts to prevent misuse of public funds for professional sports facilities, contact CAPFS: