St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones on Monday joined President Joe Biden in Washington D.C. for the signing of the historic $1.75 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“We need to examine not just what our city needs at this very moment, but also what our region will need for decades from now to grow and thrive.” —St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones
The act is expected to create millions of well-paid union jobs and modernize the country’s infrastructure. Missouri will receive $9 billion of the funding over the course of five years.
“While we don’t yet know the specifics on how much money St. Louis is going to get, we’re accessing our current needs and are ready to work with our state and regional partners on the next steps,” she said. “We need to examine not just what our city needs at this very moment, but also what our region will need for decades from now to grow and thrive.”
She noted those things could be exploring a north/south Metrolink, other public transit solutions and repairing Lindell Bridge over Forest Park Parkway and Compton Avenue Bridge over Mill Creek Railyard.
“We hope the federal resources help us address more of these needs in the future,” Jones said. “The benefits of the president’s infrastructure package not only impact us but our children and grandchildren as well.”
The federal bill allocated funding for five different categories:
· $6.5 billion for federal-aid highway programs
· $484 million for bridge replacement and repairs
· $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state
· $866 million to improve water infrastructure
· $674 million to improve public transportation
Jones told local media Tuesday she was honored and proud to not only represent the city at the signing ceremony but to be there to build closer relationships with federal agencies for St. Louis.
She stayed in Washington D.C. after the bill signing and was slated to meet with representatives of the Federal Transit Administration and the White House’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, as well as with U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis.
The infrastructure bill passed Nov. 8. Six Democrats, including Bush, voted against it as 13 Republicans crossed party lines to vote in favor of the bill
Bush wrote about her decision in The St. Louis American, noting she felt there were two serious issues with the infrastructure bill without the Build Back Better proposal.
The first reason is she believes the infrastructure bill will worsen emissions throughout the country because the government has not offset those emissions with necessary climate measures. Second, Bush said the plan disproportionately leaves out jobs for Black and brown women, immigrant communities and young people.
Jones also addressed Build Back Better Tuesday, saying while this is a historic step forward, it’s only the first step.
“We need Congress to pass the Build Back Better Act as they promised last week,” Jones said. “The Build Back Better Act will make our community stronger and safer. I recently spoke with Vice President [Kamala] Harris and several mayors from across the country about how my childcare used to cost more than my mortgage and the importance of quality, affordable childcare for working families.”
Jones noted the Build Back Better Act would also allocate $5 billion for critical programs to make neighborhoods safer and prevent gun violence.
“And most importantly, Build Back Better would extend the child tax credit — which has already lifted millions of children out of poverty. With these two pieces of critical legislation ever paired with the American Rescue Plan, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform our region for the better, making St. Louis stronger, safer and putting us on a path to a better future.
She said she was hopeful Congress would stick to its promise of passing the Build Back Better Act before Thanksgiving.
