Rebuild Missouri

  1. Quality roads and bridges support our Missouri economy.
    (Rebuild Missouri)
    https://www.artba.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/ARTBA-State-Bridge-Rankings-2015.pdf
    American Road and Bridges Builders Association. 
    Missouri ranks 4th worse among states for the number of bad bridges,
    Over 3,000.
    https://www.transportation.gov/policy-initiatives/grow-america/road-and-bridge-data-state
    31% of MO roads are in bad condition.
    https://www.ced.org/reports/fixing-americas-roads-bridges
    14 Trillion in goods are shipped from US sites to domestic and international locations, and 87% of those goods are carried by truck or courier.
    https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/state-item/missouri/
    Missouri infrastructure 2013 report card…..” Infrastructure is the backbone of the state’s economic and social activity. On any given day we engage in the use of infrastructure in all of our daily activities. From the water we drink, to the roads we drive on, to the energy that heats and cools our homes and powers our computers, to the schools in which our children are educated; we are completely dependent on the infrastructure that provides these necessities. Although they often go unnoticed, elements such as reliable power, efficient transportation, and safe schools provide quality of life and drive our economic engines as they attract business and allow it to prosper. The central location of the state of Missouri gives our infrastructure a unique importance as the crossroads of several interstate highways, rail systems and two major inland waterways intersect in our state. With this in mind, engineers from the Kansas City and St. Louis Sections of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) came together to grade the infrastructure for the entire state of Missouri and raise awareness of the need for continued funding and maintenance of these essential facilities.”
    http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article117753263.html
    “The funding shortfall takes its toll over time, said Patrick McKenna, director of the Missouri Department of Transportation. Most of the available money has to go toward trying to maintain the quality of roads and bridges at their current level, with little left over to make improvements or expansions.”
    “The result is that although the state has worked hard to keep the quality of its main transportation arteries in tact, only about 70 percent of less-traveled roads in rural Missouri are in good or fair condition. Out of 10,400 bridges around the state, 866 are in poor condition and another 1,200 are weight restricted.”
    “There are more bridges added to the list of those in poor condition every year, McKenna said, than the state is able to remove from the list by making repairs.”

  2. Rebuilding Missouri creates good paying jobs.
    (Rebuild Missouri)
    https://www.cbpp.org/public-infrastructure-has-been-neglected-1
    Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
    Public infrastructure has been neglected.
    https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/trillion-dollar-infrastructure.pdf
    ""Infrastructure jobs are good jobs that pay well and can potentially  reboot Middle America restoring economic growth to the pace it was on before being derailed by the Great Recession."
    Figure 2 in above link.
    Infrastructure jobs are good paying jobs especially for workers without a 4 year college degree. A one trillion dollar infrastructure program would mean more than half (55%) of jobs would go to high schools graduates and dropouts.
    https://www.brookings.edu/research/expanding-opportunity-through-infrastructure-jobs/amp/
    Infrastructure jobs often provide more competitive and equitable wages , consistently paying up to 30 per cent more to low income workers.
    https://www.aem.org/news/august-2017/u-s-infrastructure-our-competitive-advantage-or-not/
    The US is ranked 11th worldwide in infrastructure. China, India, and others are building a 21st century infrastructure. The US must do the same to maintain a competitive economic advantage.
    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/gov-tom-vilsack/rebuilding-and-revitalizi_b_596679.html
    “But here too the dynamics are changing. In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only nine percent of family farm income comes from farming, and more and more of our farmers are looking elsewhere for their primary source of income.”
    “To keep farmers on the farm we must maintain a strong farm safety net, but we will also have to build a thriving companion economy to compliment production agriculture in rural America. The improved safety net must pursue new approaches that create more good-paying jobs in rural America, in addition to the time-tested programs that support our abundant agricultural system.”
    “We must create new opportunities for prosperity and small business growth with investments into rural broadband access;”
    “We must create green jobs that can’t be exported by promoting the production of renewable energy in communities across the country;”
    “We must stimulate rural economies by encouraging natural resource restoration and conservation and by promoting recreational uses like hunting, fishing and other activities that create jobs;”
    “And we must continue to strengthen farm income by investing in critical research to ensure our farmers remain world leaders in providing a reliable, cheap, safe and abundant food supply.”
    https://www.transportation.gov/policy-initiatives/grow-america/road-and-bridge-data-state
    Rebuilding roads and bridges in Missouri will yield jobs. As per the USDOT, US Dept. of Transportation, Missouri 27.2% structurally deficient/functionally obsolete bridges….. $1.6 billion ($380 per motorist) of annual total extra vehicle repairs / operating costs due to driving on roads in need of fixing…….31% of roads in poor/mediocre  condition.
    https://www.democrats.senate.gov//files/documents/ABlueprinttoRebuildAmericasInfrastructure1.24.17.pdf
    Missouri could look to studies which show that Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure could create 15 million new jobs over the next 10 years….(see page 2 in link above)
    http://www.cleanjobsmissouri.org/
    “There are 6 wind farms in NW Missouri. Newly announced wind farms include the 100 MW Hawthorne Wind Farm and the 49 MW High Prairie Wind Energy Project. With so much generating potential, and with only 2.2% of Missouri’s clean energy workers, there’s lots of opportunity to grow the Show-Me State’s wind energy workforce.”
    http://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/369823-data-shows-solar-energy-really-is-a-leading-american-job-creator
    “The most recent Solar Jobs Census is the same survey that was administered by the U.S. Department of Energy for the 2017 U.S. Energy and Employment Report. This survey was reviewed by BLS and approved by the Office of Management and Budget.”
    What we’ve learned most of all from seven years of publishing the Census is that solar is a powerful driver of U.S. job growth. The solar jobs total has grown from 93,000 in 2010 to more than 260,000 six years later. These jobs pay higher than the national average, offer excellent opportunities for advancement, and can be found in all 50 states.”
    https://energy.gov/downloads/2017-us-energy-and-employment-report
    Nation wide solar is a growth area…so it could be in Missouri….”Just under 374,000 individuals work, in whole or in part, for solar firms, with more than 260,000 of those employees spending the majority of their time on solar. There are an additional 102,000 workers employed at wind firms across the nation. The solar workforce increased by 25% in 2016, while wind employment increased by 32%.”
    http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article67544812.html
    “Missouri is projected to have the highest growth rate in clean-energy jobs this year, 8.3 percent, among a dozen Midwestern states, a report released Tuesday says.”
    “The “Clean Jobs Midwest” report estimates that the region had 568,979 such jobs in 2015, including renewable energy generation, conservation and efficiency efforts. Of those, Missouri had 52,479 such jobs and Kansas had 27,005.”
    “The region’s clean-energy job total is expected to grow 4.4 percent this year, the report estimates, and Kansas’ by 2.3 percent, the second lowest in the region. The full report is at cleanjobsmidwest.com.” “This report is more evidence of the strength of the clean energy and energy efficiency sectors in Kansas and across the Midwest,” said Joe Spease, whose Overland Park company, WindSoHy, develops renewable energy projects. But he said renewables “can really take off” with more support for policies that encourage clean-power generation through environmental regulation and investment and production tax credits.”(emphasis added)

  3. Want good paying jobs? Rebuild Missouri!
    (Rebuild Missouri)
    https://www.cbpp.org/public-infrastructure-has-been-neglected-1
    Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
    Public infrastructure has been neglected.
    https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/trillion-dollar-infrastructure.pdf
    ""Infrastructure jobs are good jobs that pay well and can potentially  reboot Middle America restoring economic growth to the pace it was on before being derailed by the Great Recession."
    Figure 2 in above link.
    Infrastructure jobs are good paying jobs especially for workers without a 4 year college degree. A one trillion dollar infrastructure program would mean more than half (55%) of jobs would go to high schools graduates and dropouts.
    https://www.brookings.edu/research/expanding-opportunity-through-infrastructure-jobs/amp/
    Infrastructure jobs often provide more competitive and equitable wages , consistently paying up to 30 per cent more to low income workers.
    https://www.aem.org/news/august-2017/u-s-infrastructure-our-competitive-advantage-or-not/
    The US is ranked 11th worldwide in infrastructure. China, India, and others are building a 21st century infrastructure. The US must do the same to maintain a competitive economic advantage.
    Also see support information for a. and b. above.

  4. Rebuild Missouri to support a competitive economy for decent paying jobs.
    (Rebuild Missouri)
    https://www.cbpp.org/public-infrastructure-has-been-neglected-1
    Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
    Public infrastructure has been neglected.
    https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/trillion-dollar-infrastructure.pdf
    ""Infrastructure jobs are good jobs that pay well and can potentially  reboot Middle America restoring economic growth to the pace it was on before being derailed by the Great Recession."
    Figure 2 in above link.
    Infrastructure jobs are good paying jobs especially for workers without a 4 year college degree. A one trillion dollar infrastructure program would mean more than half (55%) of jobs would go to high schools graduates and dropouts.
    https://www.brookings.edu/research/expanding-opportunity-through-infrastructure-jobs/amp/
    Infrastructure jobs often provide more competitive and equitable wages , consistently paying up to 30 per cent more to low income workers.
    https://www.aem.org/news/august-2017/u-s-infrastructure-our-competitive-advantage-or-not/
    The US is ranked 11th worldwide in infrastructure. China, India, and others are building a 21st century infrastructure. The US must do the same to maintain a competitive economic advantage.
    Also see support information for a. and b. above.

  5. Rebuilding our state and investing in our citizens/people is how we make Missouri great again.