The Missouri House has approved legislation authorizing St. Louis City to place a public safety tax on the ballot this year.
St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson speaks to State Rep. Richard Brown (D-Kansas City) during a May 2017 visit to the Statehouse in Jefferson City (Brian Hauswirth photo}
New St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson traveled to Jefferson City last week to urge lawmakers to approve the bill.
“We are here talking to them (legislators) about authorization for a public safety tax that we hope to be able to have authority for so that then we can ask the voters of the city of St. Louis whether or not they want to tax themself to have a more competitively-paid police department,” Krewson says.
Krewson tells Missourinet she would like to see the issue on the ballot this year.
The Senate must still approve the bill. The 2017 Missouri legislative session ends Friday evening at 6.
In April, Krewson became the first woman elected as St. Louis Mayor. She had been serving as an alderwoman since 1997.
Crime is an issue Krewson focused on, while serving as an alderwoman. Her husband, Jeff Krewson, was shot to death in 1995, during an attempted carjacking in front of their Central West End home.
