The Importance of Voting
This week many Missourians chose to exercise one of their most important rights by heading to the polls to vote in the August primary. Men and women from all over the state participated in the elections process to help determine who will represent them in the halls of government. By casting their votes, they were able to make their voices heard to help determine the path the state of Missouri will take heading into the future.
While approximately 1 million Missourians took the time to cast their votes, the 2016 primary also underscores the fact that many more Missourians continue to choose not to exercise their right to vote. Missouri typically sees see voter turnout in the 20 to 25 percent range for primary elections and August 2 primary followed that pattern. The truth is that approximately three out of every four voters choose to disenfranchise themselves by not participating in the process. When considering that some primaries were decided by as few as 50 votes, it reinforces the fact that every vote counts and that Missourians need to become more engaged in the political process.
Missourians who did not participate now have the opportunity to research the candidates and their issues and prepare to make their voices heard in November. Missourians will have the ability to help determine the winners and losers and, ultimately, the kind of policies the state and nation will work toward in the coming years. Hopefully Missourians will not take this fundamental right for granted.
Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday
Summer will soon be winding down and families will turn their attention to sending their kids back to school. School starting up again soon means parents will need to buy new school supplies and clothes to get their children ready for the classroom. To help with this process, Missouri has a three-day back-to-school tax holiday that exempts everything from school supplies to computers from sales tax.
Approved by the legislature in 2003, the three-day period allows parents to buy school-related items such as clothing, school supplies and computers without having to pay the state sales tax of 4.225 percent. In some cases, local municipalities have also chosen to honor the holiday, which means parents in these areas will be able to forego local sales tax as well. For a complete list of the cities and counties that have chosen not to participate, please use the following link: http://dor.mo.gov/business/sales/taxholiday/school/
This is a great way for Missourians to stretch their dollars by making the cost of going back to school a little more affordable. Parents are encouraged to take advantage of the holiday that begins Friday, Aug. 5 at 12:01 a.m. and runs through Sunday, Aug. 7. It’s important to note that the school supply tax exemption has a limit of $50 per purchase, while the clothing exemption has a $100 limit and the personal computer tax exemption has a limit of $1,500. For more information, please visit: http://dor.mo.gov/business/sales/taxholiday/school/consumers.php
Legislature Likely to Revisit Unemployment Reform Issue
It was during the 2015 session that the Missouri General Assembly approved legislation to reform the state’s system of unemployment. The legislation was intended to bring financial stability to the system, which went insolvent after the 2008 economic downturn. Its primary provisions acted to link unemployment benefits to the rate of unemployment, and ensure the state keeps more money in the unemployment trust fund. It was a change House members supported in order to end Missouri’s trend of borrowing money from the federal government to pay for unemployment benefits.
Shortly after the legislature acted, the governor vetoed the legislation to prevent it from becoming law. House members then quickly responded by overriding the governor’s veto and sending the bill to the Senate to complete the override. However, Senate members did not act during the regular session, but instead completed the veto override motion during the annual Veto Session in September. The bill then went into effect as law and Missouri reformed its system of unemployment as the legislature intended.
These reforms were recently struck down when the Missouri Supreme Court decided the veto override completed by the legislature was invalid. Specifically, the court decided the Senate violated the constitution by overriding the veto during the annual Veto Session, which the court said is reserved for bills vetoed only during the final week of the regular session or later. In the opinion of the court, because the bill was vetoed by the governor more than a week before session ended, the Senate needed to complete the override motion during the regular session rather than the Veto Session.
The decision drew immediate criticism from legislative leaders. House Speaker Todd Richardson said, “We are now in unprecedented and unsettling territory with the Supreme Court’s decision to overstep its authority and create new limits on the legislature’s veto override power. The truth is that our constitution provides both legislative bodies with the authority to determine the rules of their own proceedings, and our proceedings clearly complied with our own requirements and the language of the constitution. To see the court overreach in this way in order to invalidate a piece of legislation that received the support of supermajorities in both chambers should raise concerns for all Missourians who believe in fair and balanced branches of government.”
Senate leaders pledged to revisit the issue when the legislature convenes for the 2017 session in January. Members from both chambers have pointed out that the state will have a new governor when the legislature meets again, and many are hopeful the state will have a leader who will work with House and Senate members to fix the state’s system of unemployment so that it can remain solvent.
Making the Fight Personal
August 5, 2016
Over the past 11 days, I have travelled nearly 3,000 miles, visited all 30 counties of Missouri’s 8th Congressional District and have visited almost 50 different farms and agricultural businesses. There were early mornings and long days in the scorching Missouri heat over the past two weeks, but that is nothing new to many of the incredible folks I had the opportunity to visit with. Getting to better know and understand firsthand the issues these hardworking farmers and small business owners are dealing with on a daily basis has been a great experience.
Each farm I traveled to over the past two weeks was unique and each farm family I visited had their own way of doing things, many of which were incorporating their own innovation into their operations. For many of the families, farming has been a way of life that has been passed down from generation to generation. In Ste. Genevieve, I visited Oberle Meats, a sausage making business that has been a pillar of the Ste. Genevieve community for 146 years. Today, the business is still run by the Oberle family who have maintained the highest quality standards that have made their meat famous and the centerpiece of many Missouri families special occasions. I also visited 4M Vineyards which is a family run business that started out as an FFA project and has turned into one of the largest concord grape vineyards in Missouri. Or, the Marler’s who own cattle, but also oversee a large timber operation. I even got to stop by Country Fish Farms in my hometown and visit the Cahill’s whom I have known since I was a kid. They help stock ponds, lakes and resorts across Missouri that allow many of us to enjoy the great outdoors even more and, during the winter, their farm attracts a family of bald eagles which is a sight to see.
Many of the farms and agriculture businesses I visited not only are committed to producing the highest quality products, they are also committed to the innovation and growth of the agriculture industry in Missouri. For instance, the Fisher Delta Research Center in Portageville is conducting fascinating research recognized across the world. The folks at the Delta Research Center study cotton and rice production as well as crop irrigation systems across the farmlands of southeast Missouri in order to develop better cropping and insect and disease-control systems. I visited Heckemeyer’s Sweet Sorghum Farm in Sikeston where owner Matt Heckemeyer is working to unlock sweet sorghums potential by trying it as an animal feed, food-grade syrup and potential fuel source. I visited Jayce Mountain Pork in Fredericktown that is using state-of-the-art technology to produce the highest quality pork product while maintaining the safest standards. Seeing how passionate these farmers and researchers are about developing new and innovative ways to keep agriculture strong in Missouri, I am confident that agriculture will remain our state’s number one industry and continue to get stronger into the future.
More importantly, this farm tour provided a fresh perspective on the struggles and issues that farmers and small business owners in southeast and south central Missouri are facing and how I can better serve and fight for the people who call our area home. Regulation happy Washington bureaucrats who have never set foot on a farm in Missouri continue to try every way they can to make life more difficult for those farmers who provide for the needs of our nation and the world and who just want Washington out of their way and off their backs. Washington is out of touch with rural America and they don’t understand our traditions and values. For instance, of the 435 members in Congress, less than 100 represent rural America. This makes our struggle fighting not only Washington regulations, but also trying to educate other members of Congress about the importance of the parts of the country that help feed, clothe, and provide shelter for their families. I am incredibly proud to call Missouri’s 8th District home, and even more proud to be able to represent the amazing folks, and so many others like them, I had the great opportunity to learn about these past two weeks. As I continue to fight for our district, the names, faces, and families I get to meet increase my resolve and make the challenge to change Washington even more personal.
Jason Kander issued the following statement on Tuesday after the Associated Press announced he won the Missouri Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
“I would like to thank all of the Missourians who came out today and voted for a new generation of leadership to represent Missouri families in the Senate. Over the past year, I’ve been to every county in our state and have heard the same message from Republicans, Democrats and Independents: Washington is broken and we need to elect new leaders to fix it. Missourians are ready for an independent-minded voice who will put country ahead of political party to clean up Congress. Senator Blunt has become part of the problem in his nearly 20 years in Washington and now works for the lobbyists and special interests that fund his campaigns instead of the folks who actually elected him. As a former Army Captain who volunteered to serve in Afghanistan, I have taken on tougher challenges than this, so I look forward to a spirited general election focused on how we can make Washington work for Missouri families again."
WHO: Congressman Jason Smith
WHAT: Farm Tour stop at H.W. Winchester
WHERE: Rural Route 82, Box 2606, Advance MO, 63730
WHEN: Tuesday, August 2nd, 8:00am-9:00am
Stoddard County, Missouri - Danny Talkington, County Commission District 1 has worked diligently over the past 3 and 1/2 years to get monies appropriated and spent on bridge repair and drainage work in the Pike Township, Castor Township, and Duck Creek Township.
In Pike Township more than $906,000 has either already been spent or is appropriated for bridge repair and drainage work. In Castor Township, more than $759,000 has been spent on bridge repair or will be spent relatively soon and in the Duck Creek Township more than $440,000 has been or will be spent on bridge repair. That's over two million dollars of funds spent or appropriated to be spent for much needed repairs.
What's great about this money is that it is 80% funded by the Federal Gas Tax and only 20% came from local Stoddard County tax dollars. There were no additional costs to residents in the three townships.
Talkington said, "The north end of Stoddard County is receiving this money largely do to his and other Commissioners' efforts and it is my hope to continue to do so for the next two years."
