REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH AND VITALITY Scott Air Force Base is the largest employer in downstate Illinois and with more than 13,000 employees and generating $2 billion annually in economic impact throughout the St. Louis region. The U.S. Department of Defense in 2005 will complete another round of the military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). During the 1995 round of Base Realignment and Closure, civic leaders in the St. Louis metropolitan region teamed with the Leadership Council of Southwestern Illinois, the state of Illinois, and the Illinois Congressional delegation to successfully defend Scott Air Force Base against closure. In that round, Scott Air Force Base had been placed in the heavy aircraft category during the Air Force evaluation process, even though it is not a heavy aircraft base. It is a major joint command headquarters base housing both the United States Transportation Command and the Air Force Air Mobility Command. If any bases in the heavy aircraft category had been targeted by the Air Force, Scott Air Force would have been closed. Scott Air Force Base’s position has been enhanced due to both international conflict and homeland defense initiatives since 1995. Support funding for activities associated with the retention and enhancement of Scott Air Force Base. Support the category change from a heavy aircraft base to a major joint command headquarters base housing both the United States Transportation Command and the Air Force Air Mobility Command. Support a cabinet-level military affairs position within the Illinois Governor’s Office to coordinate a state-wide military base retention effort in anticipation of the 2005 round of military base realignment and closure. Scott Air Force Base is the largest employer in downstate Illinois and with more than 13,000 employees and generating $2 billion annually in economic impact throughout the St. Louis region. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT St. Louis is fortunate to have several institutions of higher learning—Saint Louis University, Southern Illinois University–Edwardsville, University of Missouri–St. Louis, and Washington University—which are home to some of the brightest minds in the country. Additionally, a large number of companies involved in research and development call the St. Louis region home. Cutting edge research occurs everyday at these institutions, resulting in a number of patents waiting for approval. Very often, this research generates new products that are ready for the marketplace; thus, creating new businesses and new job opportunities for our region. Support the making permanent or re-authorization of the federal Research and Development Tax Credit. Support increased federal funding in research and development, at the National Aeronautics and Science Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes for Health (NIH), and National Cancer Institute (NCI). TRANSPORTATION FUNDING Having a first-class infrastructure and transportation system is key to the growth of the St. Louis region’s economy. St. Louis is in the center of the country, strategically located to be a major transportation hub for the national and international economy. Whether it is the interstates, rail system, airports or water ports, all of these modes must be fully utilized to maximize their economic benefit to the region. Support the reauthorization of the surface transportation legislation. For the following modes of transportation support: Highways and Bridges – Support Missouri and Illinois in continuing to receive their share of highway and bridge money. Aggressively seek additional funding mechanisms, particularly existing programs for which Missouri and Illinois may be qualified. Transit – Support federal funding of transit needs, including adequate vehicle replacement funding for an effective and enhanced bus system. Airports – Support federal funding for Lambert Airport expansion plan and for airports throughout the region. Rail – Support enhancement of the rail system in the region to improve the region’s ability to move passengers and freight. Support retention of the enhancement funding category (used at Eads Bridge and area biking trails) in the transportation reauthorization bill. Retain the CMAQ funding category which assists the Clean Air Partnership in improving air quality in our region. MISSISSIPPI RIVER BRIDGE Free flow of people, goods and services in the core of St. Louis is restricted by traffic from three interstates (I-70, I-55, and I-64) squeezing through a single Mississippi River bridge crossing (the Poplar Street Bridge). Peak hour congestion could double in the next 20 years, leading to failure of the transportation system. The Mississippi River Bridge will create a new river crossing by relocating Interstate 70 and Illinois Route 3. This project will improve access and circulation in downtown St. Louis. It will also enhance our region’s air quality by reducing congestion. The project costs $1.6 billion and will generate more than $2.6 billion of economic benefit to our region, plus the benefits from the lives and injuries saved by a safer roadway system. The Illinois Department of Transportation and the Missouri Department of Transportation have made this project their top priority for federal funding. If funding is secured this year, construction of the bridge could start in 2004 with completion by 2010. Support and pursue designated funding for the Mississippi River Bridge in the reauthorization of the federal surface transportation legislation. RIVER LOCK AND DAMS More than 60 percent of the U.S. grain exports reach world markets via the upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, contributing $14 to $18 billion per year in international trade. The ports in metropolitan St. Louis shipped and received 32.6 million tons in 1999, worth over $5 billion, making St. Louis the second-busiest inland port in the United States. A modal transfer of this tonnage would require an additional 1,260,533 trucks through the metropolitan St. Louis area alone, increasing road traffic, noise and air pollution. Building materials, gasoline and road salt are just a few commodities that would cost hundreds of millions of dollars more to consumers in the St. Louis metropolitan area, if the river locks and dams were closed. An upgrade to the river lock and dam system is desperately needed to maintain the volume of shipments along the Mississippi. Construction at the five proposed lock sites along the Mississippi from St. Louis to Hannibal/Quincy would produce an estimated 6,000 jobs annually over 10 to 15 years. Support upgrading seven locations with 1200-foot lock capacity and five locations with 1200-foot guidewall extensions located on the upper Mississippi and the Illinois Rivers. MISSOURI RIVER WATER FLOW The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are discussing plans to drastically change the management of the Missouri River. Last summer a U.S. District Court imposed restrictions on the Missouri’s water flow which caused a closure of the Mississippi River and cost the St. Louis regional economy more than $7 million from lost commercial and tourist business. A new annual operating plan for the river proposes a spring rise and a low summertime flow for the Missouri River in order to increase water flow in the Red River Basin in the Dakotas. In the St. Louis region, the spring rise will increase the risk of flooding, and the low summertime flows will halt river navigation and adversely affect power plant facilities and water supply. Support the Current Water Control Plan for the Missouri River. Oppose changes to the river management plan without the direct involvement of all states and industries whose economies are affected by the river. ST. LOUIS REGIONAL GREENWAYS PLAN The Water Resources Development Act will authorize future appropriations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works projects and programs. This Act presents an opportunity for funding of a bi-state network of bike trails, linear parks, and greenways in the St. Louis area. The St. Louis Regional Greenway Plan contains the plans from the Confluence Greenway Master Plan, the Metro East Regional Greenway Plan and other local plans. The projects in the plan include habitat restoration, improving aquatic recreation areas and waterways, and improving public access to the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The St. Louis Regional Greenways Plan also includes the plans for the Choteau Lake District. Local funding for the greenways plan comes from 1/10th of a cent sales tax passed in 2000, and so far more than $60 million have been committed from local sources. Support passage of the Water Resources Development Act that includes authorization for the St. Louis Regional Greenways Plan. HIGHER EDUCATION This year, Congress will reauthorize the Higher Education Funding Act, and one component of the reauthorization will be the renewal of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. The Perkins Act develops the academic, vocational and technical skills of students necessary to enter the workforce. Funds from the Perkins Act are used to hire vocational counselors, placement specialists and other vocational education services. Without adequate funding to vocational and technical programs, the workforce needs of our region will not be met. It is projected that in the next five years, employment growth in occupations requiring a vocational associate degree will grow by 30 percent. Support reauthorization of the Perkins Act at adequate funding levels in order to meet the needs of the regional workforce. WELFARE-TO-WORK PROGRAMS In 1996, Congress enacted the federal welfare reform law known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. The law eliminated federal entitlements and placed time limits on families to leave welfare and find employment. Congress dispersed the money for welfare as a block grant to each state, and gave every state flexibility in spending the block grant. The new welfare program, renamed Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), has reduced welfare caseloads by 60 percent in Illinois and 50 percent in Missouri. Support reauthorization of TANF with built-in flexibility for states to design programs that meet the workforce needs of businesses. COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT The RCGA strongly believes that for the St. Louis region as a whole to flourish, our economically distressed areas must be revitalized. The business sector must take a leadership role in achieving this goal and work with the public sector. Strategic public policies can foster public/private partnerships to successfully leverage private investment in these areas. Support the following initiatives to spur redevelopment efforts in the center city and economically distressed areas: Federal Historic Tax Credit – Restore this Tax Credit to its pre-1986 level that allows investors to receive a 25 percent tax credit against the costs of rehabilitating an historic building or a building within an historic district. St. Louis was the greatest beneficiary of this tax credit throughout its existence; and would greatly benefit from its reinstatement. Brownfield Redevelopment – Older, abandoned industrial sites are very common in distressed areas. Many of these sites have —or are perceived to have—environmental contamination, which serves as a disincentive for redevelopment. There should be direct funding, tax credits, and meaningful liability reform to have a successful brownfield program. New Markets Tax Credits – These tax credits can spur the creation of an investment pool to further economic development in distressed areas of our region. The investment pool can be used for business lending to attract industry to distressed or underserved areas, land assembly, remediation, or acquisition for commercial or industrial development, equity funding to assist in business start-ups, and gap financing for large real estate projects. CHOUTEAU LAKE DISTRICT AND TECHNOLOGY CAMPUS As a result of its work at Cupples Station, McCormack Baron saw the opportunity to expand downtown’s renaissance by reintroducing a major water feature in a blighted but highly visible area just south of I-64/U.S. 40. The centerpiece—Chouteau Lake District and Technology Campus—will become the anchor for a series of redeveloped downtown “neighborhoods” and would generate more than $15 billion in private investment activities. The Lake District, featuring waterfront plazas, a variety of housing choices, museum and park spaces, will connect the near Southside neighborhoods to the historic core and the newly developed regional riverfront trail system. Support the concept of Chouteau Lake and Technology Campus and support the Army Corps of Engineers study. Support the Water Resource Development Act to include authorization for the St. Louis Regional Greenways plan and the Chouteau Lake District. Future funding for Chouteau Lake District and Technology Campus will come from private, local, state, and federal funds. HUBZONE LEGISLATION IN FEDERAL CONTRACTS Federal law currently requires certain government agencies to award a percentage of their purchasing contracts to small, women-owned, and minority businesses. Likewise, federal law also requires large prime contractors in the private sector who receive awards from these agencies to establish goals for subcontracting to small, women-owned and minority businesses. This greatly enhances the ability for growth and prosperity in the small business sector—the fastest growing sector of the economy. Support the swift implementation of the HUBZone legislation, which is designed to steer federal contracts to small businesses in economically distressed areas. Also, support unbundling of contracts when feasible. INTERNATIONAL TRADE Many RCGA member companies trade their goods and services all over the world. Their ability to increase in exports directly benefits our region by creating jobs and economic development activity. The United States leads the world economy and has the ability to compete with any country because of its workforce, creativity and ingenuity. The United States, therefore, can only benefit from fewer trade barriers and more trading partners. Trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), Fast Track, Normal Trade Relations (NTR) with China all achieve this goal and have been supported by the RCGA. Support and promote fair trade legislation or agreements that enhance our member companies’ ability to compete in the global economy by breaking down barriers and increasing export trading. CIVIL JUSTICE REFORM Frivolous liability lawsuits have become more frequent and very expensive for the business community. These types of lawsuits are hidden taxes on corporations and deter growth and economic expansion. Support responsible and common sense tort and civil justice reform. SMALL BUSINESS ISSUES Small businesses are the fastest growing job-creating sector of the U.S. economy, but barriers still exist for these companies to grow and prosper. Employees of small businesses adopting the “simple” 401-K tax deferred saving plan cannot defer the same amount of savings as a ‘large company’ plan, a difference of several thousands of dollars per year. The simple plans were devised to avoid the cumbersome paperwork of large employee plans, but should not penalize participants by a lower deductible amount. Small businesses are further hampered in offering various tax-deferred benefits opportunities because of the costs of administering individual types of benefit plans. A Simplified Benefits Plan would permit the IRS to establish a national prototype plan, similar to a SEP, as an umbrella for small businesses to offer tax deferrals for health savings accounts, long-term care insurance, child care expenses and tuition plans. Support passage of legislation to permit equivalent tax deferrals for Simple 401-K savings plans. Support passage of legislation to provide a Simplified Small Benefits Plan for small businesses. HEALTH CARE COVERAGE Nearly two-thirds of Americans receive their health insurance coverage from their employer. However, in the last three years employers have experienced double-digit increases in their health care costs, and small business have been hit the hardest. More and more small businesses are opting not to offer health insurance to their employees, a significant reason why one in seven Americans are without insurance coverage. Support pooled-purchasing associations to offer self-insured coverage under ERISA to small businesses, individuals and the self-employed. Support above the line deductions for individuals who pay their own health insurance premiums. Reform the medical malpractice liability system. Oppose the unreasonable expansion of liability to employers. Oppose new mandates that undermine employers’ abilities to provide high quality health insurance at a reasonable cost to employees. MEAL AND ENTERTAINMENT EXPENSES Many small businesses use meals and entertainment as a primary selling tool. Business owners would not spend money on meals and entertainment if it did not serve a valid business purpose; therefore, these expenses should be treated as an “ordinary and necessary” business expenses. However, under current law the deduction for meals and entertainment is limited to 50 percent of the total amount spent. Before 1986, the deduction was 100 percent. Support the restoration of full deductibility of valid meal and entertainment expenses.

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