The state House Budget Committee will ask this week how and why $16-million was spent on the failed effort to keep the Rams in St. Louis.
Representative Scott Fitzpatrick (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)
The St. Louis Regional Sports Authority has been called to testify Wednesday. Committee vice-chairman Scott Fitzpatrick (R-Shell Knob) said lawmakers want to know about the 16-million dollar effort Governor Jay Nixon (D) backed, to build a new NFL stadium in St. Louis and keep the Rams in town.
“We’re going to be asking them some questions about what they knew, when they knew it, how it could possibly cost $16-million to present a proposal to the NFL and what they got in exchange for the $16-million,” Fitzpatrick told Missourinet.
Fitzpatrick said some questions will be about roughly $900-thousand dollars of that money going to the firm of one of the task force members, Bob Blitz. A bill has been passed out of the state House that would prevent members of task forces and commissions from benefitting from the decisions made by the body they’re on.
Of the $16-million, Fitzpatrick said the single largest amount was more than $10-million to architectural firm HRK.
“That’s an unbelievable sum of money for where we were in the process,” said Fitzpatrick. “To me that seems like the most amount of money you would end up paying somebody – an architect – through the whole construction process.”
Some questions will involve Governor Nixon.
“His involvement in the process and how much direction he gave on how to spend the money and how much money should have been spent on the process,” said Fitzpatrick.
The hearing is Wednesday at 8:15 in a Capitol basement hearing room.