ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - On Tuesday, St. Louis Alderwoman Pamela Boyd announced that she has filed a bill that would see some of the funds from the Rams settlement used to invest in disinvested neighborhoods in North and Southeast St. Louis and Downtown St. Louis.
As part of the legislation, $132.5 million of funds from the Rams settlement would go into disinvested neighborhoods in North and Southeast St. Louis and $100 million into would be used to improve infrastructure in Downtown St. Louis.
"The neighborhoods I represent in North St. Louis have waited too long for investment. We have needs that have gone unmet for decades, and we can no longer sit back and talk about saving this money for a rainy day; in my community, it’s been pouring for decades," said Alderwoman Boyd. "This bill will bring much-needed investment to North and Southeast St. Louis and in our economic engine, Downtown."
According to a press release from Alderwoman Boyd's office, the bill would invest the $232.5 million in four areas:
· $107.5 million for infrastructure projects – $55 to disinvested neighborhoods and $52.5 to downtown
· $85 million for the rehabilitation of high-impact areas and buildings – $35 million in North City, $20 million in southeast St. Louis, and $30 million downtown
· $25 million for housing improvement – $10 million downtown and $15 in disinvested neighborhoods
· $15 million to support small businesses and commercial corridors – $10 million of which would go to downtown and $5 million to disinvested neighborhoods
The bill also received co-sponsorship from Alderwoman Laura Keys (11th Ward), Alderman Tom Oldenburg (2nd Ward), and Alderwoman Cara Spencer (8th ward).
According to the press release, the bill would target more than half of the funding to disinvested neighborhoods, specifically the neighborhoods that meet the criteria outlined in the Economic Justice Action Plan developed by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones.
"We are working within the criteria the City has already identified, and that the Mayor’s team has promised to address. We must use this money to make the Economic Justice Action Plan real, not just a plan," said Alderwoman Keys in the press release. "It’s time to get the plans off the shelf and implement them."
Alderwoman Boyd says that the legislation will be officially introduced to the full Board of Aldermen Friday, Nov. 15.
KMOX News spoke with nearly the entire Board of Aldermen. While there were few outright no votes, there were many in the Board of Alderman who expressed pessimism with the vote, with some expressing a preference to focus on allocating the remaining ARPA dollars first before turning the city's attention to the Rams settlement money.
The bill also received some pushback from St. Louis City Mayor Tishaura Jones. Jones's Director of Communications Conner Kerrigan called the bill "aspirational" and says the mayor is working with Aldermanic President Megan Green on their own Rams Settlement Bill.