ST LOUIS — Missouri lawmakers are looking to help businesses and other elected officials in the state grab the second round of cash that might be available in the stimulus bill passed by Congress. An interim committee led by Sen. Scott Rupp, R-Wentzville, and Rep. Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, met downtown today to start planning how lawmakers will help Missouri grab a larger piece of the federal pie.

The committee took quite a different approach than the previous stimulus committee led by Rupp during the legislative session. Then, Rupp and his fellow senators were mostly trying to understand — and criticize – the Congressional stimulus act, which poured hundreds of millions of dollars into different pots of money intended to shore up ailing state budgets and stimulate the moribund economy.

This time, Rupp said, the committee’s goal is to help identify specific competitive grants available to businesses, cities and counties, and other entities, so that Missouri gets its share of the money.

Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, referred to this round of stimulus money as the “little pot” of cash, compared to the “big pot” that lawmakers divvied out during the legislative session.

It’s likely no accident that the committee has a strong St. Louis area contingent, with Rupp, Icet, Sen. Jeff Smith, Sen. Robin Wright-Jones and Sen. Eric Schmitt on the panel. St. Louis developer Paul McKee has been very active in recent weeks pushing lawmakers and other elected officials, including Mayor Francis Slay, to seek stimulus cash to bolster his proposed multi-billion-dollar Northside development.

The stimulus money available through the competitive grants will be awarded through various federal agencies. There is money for water and sewer development, for instance — one of the areas McKee is hoping to tap. There is also money for broadband development, road projects and other city and county services.

Icet and Rupp said they hoped the committee would develop a complete list of projects that might be available in Missouri so individual lawmakers can help their constituents hoping to compete with other states for the money. The committee will meet again in August.