Area legislators in Missouri's General Assembly applaud Parson joining 'Open Roads'

Southeast Missouri's delegation in the state legislature is unanimous in its support of Gov. Mike Parson's decision to sign the "Operation Open Roads" initiative Monday.

The letter supports policies aimed at eliminating supply chain shortages being felt all over the United States.

Parson joined his Republican peers in 14 other states -- Tennessee, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas -- in adding his name to the document.

Every GOP governor from states bordering the Show Me State signed the document, with the sole exception of Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas.

Hutchinson did not address his decision not to sign in his weekly press conference Tuesday in Little Rock.

Illinois, Kansas and Kentucky, other contiguous states to Missouri, are led by Democratic governors -- and none signed the initiative.

"With 7.4 million people unemployed and 10.4 million job openings, we have a shortage of 80,000 truck drivers, an all-time high for the trucking industry. With more paychecks at risk, American families are forced to pay more for food, gas, and everyday goods as inflation surges to a 30-year high under President Biden's watch," read the letter.

Details

Signatories to "Operation Open Roads" pledge to make immediate changes using their specific gubernatorial authority.

One change the governors plan to institute, according to the letter, is to "modify weight, size or load restrictions to allow more cargo to move more efficiently" throughout their individual states.

The core of the two-page missive calls on the Biden Administration to suspend several federal regulations. Among them:

• The rule requiring CDL (commercial driver's license) holders to be 21 years of age. The governors want the minimum age dropped to 18.
• The mandate requiring COVID-19 vaccines for all private employees, specifically for the trucking and transportation industry.

The governors, in the document's concluding sentence, also say they want the White House to stop efforts to raise taxes.

"We call on President Biden to halt attempts to raise taxes, spend trillions more in taxpayer dollars, and grow the debt, all of which will cripple the American economy and spur inflation causing sky high consumer prices for American families."

Local support

• Sen. Holly Rehder of Scott City (R-27) texted the following to the Southeast Missourian before Thanksgiving: "America's economy runs on trucks. When we pray over our Thanksgiving meal this week, we should ask the Lord to bless the food, the hands that prepared it and the truckers who got it here. I'm excited to see our Governor and the others value the trucking industry. I support this effort and I support ending COVID vaccine mandates of all kinds."
• Rep. Jamie Burger of Benton (R-148): "I support Gov. Parson entirely in the [document] he signed. With rising grocery prices and energy bills increasing and the price of gas going up every day, we have to do lighten up on the regulations for manufacturing also so the supply chain can be filled up."
• Rep. Barry Hovis of Whitewater (R-146): "I do support [Parson's] initiative on streamlining transportation regulations. I also support preventing federal government overreach on any mandates not originally enumerated to it in the Constitution. Unfortunately, the slippery slope of allowing more and more power to be centralized in D.C. has led to a greater divide in our country.
• Rep. Rick Francis of Perryville (R-145): "I was happy to see the governors get together to try and fix this trucking issue that is creating shortages and slowing our economy. It seems all the Biden administration knows how to do is tax, overregulate and throw our tax dollars at this problem and all of our country's problems. I hope the federal government gets out of the way of the states' way so we can fix America."
• Rep. Wayne Wallingford of Cape Girardeau (R-147): "This initiative is exactly what is needed to get businesses back on track after COVID. An overregulated economic environment holds businesses back and limits their full potential. We need to make sure they have the tools to be productive and efficient."