St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones on Monday enacted a spending plan for the first $135 million dollars of the $498 million in federal money the city will receive in the next two years through the American Rescue Plan Act. She also vetoed approximately $33 million in line-item allocations from the final package that she argues violate U.S. Treasury laws.
Those items were at the center of a month-long standoff between Jones and Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, who added the $33 million North St. Louis economic development plan to the pandemic aid spending bill.
“My administration’s top priority is now getting this urgent relief, including $500 direct payments, to thousands of St. Louis families.” — Mayor St. Louis Tishaura Jones
It began after a 12-hour meeting in mid-July in which the Board of Aldermen hammered out the details and gave preliminary approval of the bill, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment would have then typically voted to approve the bill. However, Jones and Comptroller Darlene Green refused to second Reed’s motion for a vote because it still included the $33 million in development funds.
They said that they would not vote on a bill that city counselor Matt Moak, who, in conjunction with auditor Rubin Brown, asserted Reed’s $33 million development plan fell outside of federal regulations for spending American Rescue Plan Act funds.
What followed were weeks of a contentious standoff between Reed and Jones, in which Jones said she would not vote until those provisions were amended and Reed refused to amend the bill while remaining adamant they followed federal regulations.
Jones and Green eventually agreed to approve it Aug. 6 and the Board of Alderman passed the bill with 21 aye votes Aug. 11.
The approval of both the Board of Aldermen and Board of Estimate and Apportionment were required for the measure to become law and for the funds to be used by the city.
“This is a public safety plan, a public health plan, and an economic relief plan all in one,” Jones wrote in a statement Monday. “We have to boost our vaccination rates, help keep families in their homes and address the root causes of crime.”
Jones’ office said the final package was crafted after they collected 2,500 public comments and held multiple community feedback sessions.
The relief package includes $500 direct cash assistance payments to 10,000 St. Louis families negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis; $8 million in public health infrastructure to connect people with the resources and get people vaccinated; $49 million in direct economic relief for those who are unhoused or struggling to stay in their homes; $11.5 million for violence intervention programs and youth programming and jobs; $30 million to grow jobs and opportunities across the city, including a hub in North St. Louis to assist small business owners.
“My administration’s top priority is now getting this urgent relief, including $500 direct payments, to thousands of St. Louis families,” Jones wrote Monday. “But this is just the beginning; we still have hundreds of millions of federal dollars in the bank to transform and revitalize St. Louis, and I will work to make sure those investments benefit our entire city.”
The mayor’s vetoes were all aimed at the money for developing the northern part of the city, because she said spending it in that way could result in St. Louis being forced to pay millions back to the federal government. Those line items were:
-
$20,000,000 for Dr. Martin Luther King Drive Economic Empowerment Fund
-
$3,000,000 for N. Grand Blvd Economic Empowerment Fund
-
$5,000,000 for West Florissant Economic Empowerment Fund
-
$5,000,000 for Natural Bridge Economic Empowerment Fund
“I’m extremely disappointed in the mayor for eliminating much-needed funds for small businesses and residents negatively impacted by COVID in North St. Louis,” Reed wrote in a statement. “… Mayor Jones’ position is one rooted in politics with little regard for the people who will undoubtedly be negatively impacted along the way.”
Jones is legally allowed to veto line items and sign the bill into law without them when a piece of legislation contains several items of appropriation.