The St. Louis region accounts for a stunning 45 percent of the entire state’s gross domestic product. Yet, ask a St. Louis Democratic lawmaker what tops their legislative agenda in Jefferson City this session, and you’ll likely hear what Republican bills they hope to stop.
Don’t get me wrong – there are some bad ideas this session, but protecting the status quo will not get our city and our region where they need to be, particularly at this unique moment in time.
Simply put, no is not enough.
Our area lawmakers need to be building alliances and coalitions so that we can reverse years of disinvestment into our urban core. That’s not happening right now and likely won’t happen until we find ways to work together across partisan lines.
I know this can be done, because I personally watched my mother, Missouri Rep. Betty Thompson, successfully reach across the aisle, despite her party being in the majority, simply because she knew she could get more done for our community by speaking to everyone in it, regardless of their political affiliation.
More recently, Missouri Sen. Jamilah Nasheed smartly and strategically built relationships with Republicans and Democrats alike to ensure St. Louis wasn’t forgotten in our state capitol.
With this as the backdrop, it’s no surprise that the Parson administration made the decision to hold most of their mass vaccination events in areas far away from the gateway city. It’s not as if doing so would translate to less support for his agenda from St. Louis lawmakers.
Until our lawmakers actually pull up a seat at the table, I’m afraid we will continue to be left out, and the consequences of this are as dire as not receiving our fair share of vaccinations.
When Missouri’s speaker of the house and the senate majority leader both proclaimed that education reform is their top priority on the very first day of the legislative session, I was hoping the St. Louis legislative delegation would have viewed this as their chance to leverage support for practical legislation that addresses educational inequity in the St. Louis region.
With or without Democratic support, legislation is expanding access to school choice this session – and also securing record funding for public school districts.
With more than half of the session complete, our St. Louis area lawmakers so far have been absent from these education conversations except to say “no” – even when their voice could have mobilized millions in school funding.
Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of children and families in our region who are trapped in failing schools continue to feel abandoned and frustrated by our one-size-fits-all education system that clearly does not work.
The problem with being the loyal opposition is that even when you win, the people of St. Louis lose.
So, as our Democratic lawmakers return to the State Capitol for the second half of the legislative session, let’s urge them to get serious about education reform, and in so doing, reserve a seat for themselves at the table that, for too long, has lacked a St. Louis presence.
Our great region needs representation in our state legislature that pursues a pragmatic agenda that actually has a chance of making a difference in the lives of the people it represents. No is not enough for St. Louis.
Tony Thompson is chairman and CEO of Kwame Building Group.
