Missouri Transportation Alliance pounds the pavement

As Missouri approaches the end of a major transportation-funding source and new lawmakers prepare to take office, a statewide coalition is planning to lobby for needed highway projects - and private businesspeople are footing the bill.

Missouri Transportation Alliance describes itself as a "nonpartisan, citizen-led group of transportation stakeholders ... who believe Missouri's transportation infrastructure is critical to citizen safety and job creation," according to www.missouritransportation.org.

The group's basic mission is to gather input from statewide business leaders and the public to gauge what infrastructure improvements will be needed in coming years, then present that information to lawmakers.

The timing is not coincidental. Missouri's biggest source of funding for new construction projects in recent years - the 2004-passed Amendment 3 - goes away when the current fiscal year ends June 30, and at the same time, payments are due on the $2 billion in bonds issued for that new construction.

But transportation construction needs continue, and the alliance is in the early stages of gathering private support to pay a consultant to organize project priorities and lobby for them in Jefferson City.

Supporting the effort

Fundraising efforts began locally Oct. 21, when about 40 businesspeople met at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce to hear a pitch for donations.

Among those invited was J. Howard Fisk, owner of Fisk Limousines Inc., who knows the benefit of having a comprehensive list of infrastructure priorities.

As a member of the Ozarks Transportation Organization's Board of Directors, Fisk is part of the team that puts together the Transportation Improvement Plan used by Missouri Department of Transportation to help decide which projects get funded in and around Springfield.

Fisk, who donated an undisclosed amount to the effort, said the alliance's lobbying efforts are especially helpful considering the timing.

"We're going to have new legislative agendas - a new governor, a new president and a lot of new elected officials," Fisk said. "This group is going to work with those people and hopefully make it clear to them the real importance of our transportation infrastructure. You never know how new people are going to view these things."

For Dave Roling, southwest Missouri branch manager for highway contractor Emery, Sapp & Sons Inc., the alliance is about educating both the general public and lawmakers about the situation and the ongoing need for construction funding.

"The Missouri Transportation Alliance is looking for a plan that would have broad public support," said Roling, who volunteered to help gather the alliance's leadership committee for the Springfield region. "They want a well-executed, grassroots discussion - something that would create an accurate list of what the needs are and what the benefits would be upon achieving those."

Sway in the capitol

The ability to lobby is the major difference between the alliance and groups such as the OTO and MoDOT - which also put together long-range project lists that are updated annually.

"The OTO gathers information and objectively prioritizes needs, but we're not in a position where we can reach out to legislators," Fisk said. "We don't actively go to Jeff City and talk about ... why this bridge needs to be repaired or this road widened. It's up to the highway commission to look at our list and say this will or won't happen based on the funds that they have."

Fisk noted that MoDOT is bound by similar constraints; the department cannot ask legislators for more funding.

It's that ability to lobby the state that has made the alliance attractive to donors and committee members, including Southwest Baptist University President C. Pat Taylor.

"As president of a university here, good roads and the ability to travel here are important to us," said Taylor, who serves as co-chair of the alliance's District 8 committee along with Mary Kay Meek of Meek's Building Centers. "Hopefully by giving a list of priorities to state government, they'll take notice of that, and it could be a way of encouraging the legislature to fund those priorities."

Footing the construction bill

One conspicuously absent issue in alliance discussions is how idenitified needs will be funded.

Jim Anderson, president of the Springfield chamber and vice chairman of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission - the group that governs MoDOT - said he's not worried that funding is omitted from the initial items for discussion.

"If people are aware of transportation needs and their importance, the funding will come," said Anderson, who is not directly involved with the alliance but calls himself an interested stakeholder. "We've proven that I think locally with the (city) transportation sales taxes. When we talk about making infrastructure improvements and what can result, people respond with the revenue to make it happen."

But others already are examining potential sources for the needed money.

The St. Louis-based Regional Business Council commissioned a statewide survey to gauge interest in a range of possible funding sources, and most met with disapproval.

Only 30 percent of those polled supported the idea of letting private companies build toll roads, and just 20 percent supported increasing the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon to fund local transportation projects.

Fisk said that discussing ways to fund the various needs isn't out of the question for the alliance at some point.

"Right now, MoDOT is not talking about toll roads or additional gas taxes or sales taxes," Fisk said. "But this group could play a more active role in trying to help find some alternative sources, because it is important that we take care of our infrastructure."