John Voss strives for vice-chair committee role in state House

State Rep. John Voss of Cape Girardeau aims to become the next vice-chair of the Missouri House of Representative's budget committee.

The District 147 representative currently serves on the budget committee. He also serves on the transportation accountability committee and two subcommittees for appropriations on education and health, mental health and social services.

"(I want) to learn as much as I can about how the state of Missouri uses the revenue we receive whether from taxes or licenses and fees, and I think it complements my life experiences, both in private industry as well as in some of the public service I've done to the community in different places," Voss said.

John Voss

John Voss

The first-year representative, whose district covers most of the city of Cape Girardeau, is an engineer by trade and said numbers come easy to him.

It's something he said he could use to give back to the people of Missouri.

"When we ask citizens to give us their tax money, we have an obligation to be good stewards of their money," he said. "It's not the state's money, it's the citizens' money."

The way the state spends money is a reflection of the Legislature, he added.

Voss said the budget should be handled in a responsible, sustainable and efficient way.

"I'd love to find ways to reduce the size of the budget, yet provide outstanding service to our citizens and anyone visiting the state of Missouri," Voss said. "I think my private industry experience working for the Procter & Gamble corporation has allowed me to see how we can do better with (less)."

Voss said he's been studying hard and learning as much as he can, meeting with members of executive departments to learn about budgetary resources.

"It's quite arduous to become knowledgeable about that, but I think that's what is required if you want to rise in a leadership position in any committee, but especially about the budget," he added.

The speaker of the House selects the budget committee vice-chair and other committee assignments.

If he is reelected and they maintain a majority in the House, Missouri Republicans have tapped current majority floor leader Jonathan Patterson to be the next speaker of the House. In November 2024, Patterson would choose whom to place in each committee role.