Keeping the Momentum Going; Building on Our Reforms in 2020
On Wednesday, Jan. 15, the Missouri House of Representatives and the Missouri Senate convened a joint session to receive the governor’s annual State of the State Address. My colleagues and I have delivered real results for all Missourians: lower taxes, higher wages, historically low unemployment and record investments in education, job training and infrastructure improvements.
Working together with the governor, we have kept taxes low, passed much-needed tort reforms, overhauled economic development incentives and eliminated nearly one in five state regulations. Missourians as a result saw 40,000 new jobs, the seventh highest small business wage growth in the country and nearly $5 billion in committed private sector investments.
Despite transportation funding setbacks at the ballot box, my colleagues and I thought outside the box to address critical infrastructure repairs without raising taxes. Our $300 million bridge bonding plan funded repairs and replacement of 250 bridges. Eliminating that dangerous bridge backlog freed up nearly $1 billion in state and federal funding for transportation projects across the state.
And finally, we considered the importance of education in developing good citizens, building resilient communities and sustaining economic growth. We prioritized your tax dollars to ensure we fully funded our K-12 education foundation formula and overhauled our economic incentives to invest in Missouri workers. Programs like Missouri One Start and Fast-Track workforce incentive grants are giving our friends and neighbors the tools they need to advance their careers and ensure job creators have access to the best-trained workforce in the country.
Sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down in the nitty-gritty details of the legislative session—so it’s nice to pause every once in a while and celebrate the real impact of the decisions we’ve made with you in mind. I’m thrilled to see our commonsense reforms and conservative financial stewardship have achieved such great results in our own community and across the state. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues and the governor to build on those successes in 2020. You can count on us to continue to invest in our workforce, local schools, infrastructure and public safety.
It is an honor to serve you in the Missouri Senate. Please do not hesitate to contact my office at (573) 751-3678 or by email at dave.schatz@senate.mo.gov if you have any questions or concerns — we are honored to serve you.