Making Missouri Stronger
Last week, the Missouri General Assembly began its 2018 legislative session. From now until May, we’ll be looking at many different proposals to make our state government smaller, more efficient and more responsible. We want to foster a government that will incentivize economic activity, thereby creating more jobs and meaningful work opportunities in our region.
This session, my colleagues and I are looking at a number of different ideas to move Missouri forward. We want to reform our state’s labor laws and regulations to make our system more business-friendly. And we want to address funding issues, such as those surrounding in-home nursing care, which threaten some of our state’s most vulnerable citizens.
In order to make Missouri strong, we should look at neighboring states for inspiration and warning. We need an environment here that is attractive to job-makers. Otherwise, we’ll lose out to those states that have gone the extra mile to ease restrictions on business activity. If we fail to compete, we’ll face the cost of fewer jobs and lower wages. But if we’re successful, we can continue to bring investment into Missouri and encourage our in-state businesses to grow and expand.
In seeking to move Missouri forward, we’ll also be looking back at some proposals that weren’t passed in prior sessions. Sometimes it takes many years to pass a bill. When an idea circulates for that long, lawmakers often think of more ways to improve upon the original proposal. In the end, the final legislation ends up much stronger than if it had simply been rushed through the process.
As always, please feel free to call, email or write with your ideas or concerns. My Capitol office number is (573) 751-1415, my email is dan.hegeman@senate.mo.gov and my mailing address is Room 332, State Capitol Building, Jefferson City, MO 65101.