Opportunity to Thrive

From the commission: "The signature priorities in the Opportunity to Thrive section address five key areas the Commission believes address economic inequality, and merit urgent attention: expanding Medicaid, employment, financial empowerment, housing, and transportation."

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Drag the Ferguson Commission's Signature Recommendations from the other box to this one, and put them in the order of what you think the priorities should be. Then click "Done" to see how your choices compare with other readers'.

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Opportunity to Thrive Signature Recommendations

Expand Medicaid Eligibility

Expand eligibility for Medicaid to 138% of the federal poverty level (or an annual income of $32,913 for a family of four) so that Missouri can take full advantage of federal funds available to meet the health needs of Missourians.

Accountable body(ies): Missouri Legislature

Raise the Minimum Wage

Raise the minimum wage to $15/hr.

Accountable body(ies): City of St. Louis Board Bill; St. Louis County Council; Statewide voters; Missouri Legislature

End Predatory Lending

End predatory lending by changing repayment terms, underwriting standards, collection practices and by capping the maximum APR at the rate of 36 percent.

Accountable body(ies): Missouri Legislature, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Create Universal Child Development Accounts

Expand the current scope of the MOST 529 Matching Grant Program so it is used as a platform for progressive universal Child Development Accounts that are: statewide and automatic (opt-out)

Accountable body(ies): Missouri State Treasurer, Capacity-building organization for public-private partnerships, Missouri Legislature, Governor

Create Individual and Family Development Accounts

Provide progressive Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) and Family Development Accounts (FDAs) offered statewide by means of a dedicated funding stream from the state. Additional potential funding sources include:

Using the Community Reinvestment Act to provide banks with credit for funding development accounts;
Offering corporate tax breaks for contributions to development accounts;
Redirecting unclaimed savings account funds turned over to the state; or
Restoring the state-funded matching program to it original $4 million

Accountable body(ies): Bank and Credit Union Regulators, Missouri Legislature, and Banks and Credit Unions, Governor

Concentrate Financial Services through Empowerment Sites

Identify empowerment sites throughout the St. Louis region to concentrate financial services that provide community development banking and multi-generational financial education (e.g., Prosperity Connection)

Accountable body(ies): Non-profit organizations, funding bodies

Enhance Collaboration Between Educational Institutions and Employers

Enhance and expand collaboration between educational institutions and employers statewide by:

Establishing a regional intermediary to ensure greater public-private collaboration in assessing workforce needs and communicating those needs with K-12 institutions, job training programs, and post-secondary education institutions;
Developing a regional strategy for aligning educational programs to workforce needs that has clearly established indicators to measure progress in creating stronger regional talent development initiatives;
Encouraging schools, especially community colleges, to utilize industry professionals as trainers to develop joint programs that educate and train area students for jobs that are available or coming in a diversity of industries (e.g., the partnership between St. Louis Community College- Florissant Valley and Boeing);
Requiring public schools, both K-12 and post-secondary, to align instruction to college and career readiness standards that are more comprehensive; and
Investing in public schools (including in North County), both K-12 and post-secondary, to integrate high quality career and technical education (CTE) into the curriculum in part through work-based learning through internships and other opportunities borne of strong relationships with the business community (e.g., Clyde C. Miller Academy).

Accountable Body(ies): Governor, Missouri Legislature, local governments, chambers of commerce, STL Economic Development Partnership, RBC, DESE, district superintendents and administrative bodies, school districts, high schools, college, universities, trade schools, funding bodies, private sector, St. Louis Minority Business Council, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative

Ensure Employer-Educator Collaborations Build a Love of Learning

Ensure all efforts and models designed to align K-12, higher education and workforce development support the social and emotional development of children, youth and young adults and broadly build life-long skills and a love of learning. Accountable bodies: Governor, Missouri Legislature, Local School Districts, EdPlus

Accountable bodies: Governor, Missouri Legislature, Local School Districts, EdPlus

Preferentially Fund Job Training Programs that Show Impact

Funding for job training programs throughout the state shall be prioritized for those programs that successfully serve, place, and retain job seekers as measured by dedicated performance metrics.

Accountable body(ies): Capacity-building organizations

Build Healthy, Affordable Housing

Support the Missouri Housing Development Commission's 2015-16 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) as it references unit sizes, investment of LIHTC, and workforce housing namely with respect to:

Limiting applications to fifty (50) affordable units (with exceptions mentioned in the QAP)
Prohibiting new construction and conversion in locations where the total publically subsidized housing units (as defined in the Market Study Guidelines) equal more than 20% of all units in the census tract where the development will be located
Prohibiting (with exceptions listed in the QAP) proposed development in the Kansas City or St. Louis region within one mile of any development that has been approved for State Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), Federal LIHTC, Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) or Fund Balance funding through the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) within the previous two fiscal-year funding cycles and is less than 90% leased-up at the time of application submission
Requiring that developments address the affordable housing needs of the state, region, and locality where they will be located and with the considerations listed in the QAP
Prioritizing the development of service-enriched housing.

Accountable body(ies): Missouri Housing Development Commission, Housing Authorities in the region

Enact Inclusionary Zoning Ordinances

Enact inclusionary zoning ordinances to promote access to affordable housing for low-income individuals.

Accountable body(ies): All units of government in the region with land use (zoning) powers

Identify Priority Transportation Projects for the St. Louis Region

Identify agreed upon priority transportation project(s) for the St. Louis region (e.g., extending MetroLink on the proposed North-South corridor, implementing Bus Rapid Transit) in order to elevate the importance of key projects for the region and make tangible the need and potential benefits of transit.

Accountable body(ies): East-West Gateway Board of Directors, St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Transit Alliance

Develop a State Supported Funding Plan for Public Transit

Develop a State supported funding plan for public transit in order to fill a significant funding deficit when seeking federal dollars for transit capital projects requiring matching funds.

Accountable body(ies): Governor, Missouri Legislature