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Lt. Governor Peter Kinder votes ‘no’ on tax credits for new St. Louis stadium

‘Spending taxpayer money must be transparent with proper oversight’

JEFFERSON CITY – Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder was the sole ‘no’ vote on the Missouri Development Finance Board’s approval of the first $15 million of $50 million in tax credits over the next three years for a new NFL stadium in St. Louis.

The stadium project is an attempt to keep the Rams in St. Louis or attract another NFL franchise. Overall, it is projected to cost almost $1 billion. Rams owner Stan Kroenke has said he plans to build a new stadium in Inglewood, Calif., and move the team.

“This proposal is moving forward without a single vote by a public body accountable to voters: Not the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, not the St. Louis County Council, not the Missouri General Assembly,” Kinder said. “With today’s MDFB vote, I am the sole person running for office in the state who will be held accountable to the people of the state on this proposal.”

Kinder contrasted the new stadium proposal with the plan in the early 1990s that culminated in the construction of St. Louis’ current NFL stadium, the Edward Jones Dome.

“That proposal was debated and passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor,” he said. “All those lawmakers then stood for election having to defend their vote to the people of their districts. But now, without voters’ or their representatives’ consent, the governor is claiming the power to bind future legislators to finance this debt for the next 30 years.”