Poplar Bluff leaders talk to Sen. Blunt about U.S. 67 corridor completion

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt indicated Friday he supports efforts to complete what he referred to as a corridor of national significance between Poplar Bluff and Little Rock, Ark.

The subject was one of many covered in a question-and-answer session at the Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce with community leaders, who also asked for help with a floodplain issue that stands to affect 1,000 parcels of land in east Butler County. Missouri Reps. Steve Cookson and Todd Richardson also spoke at the meeting.

Chairman of the Highway 67 Corporation board Tom Lawson told the freshman senator Missouri can fund completion of the U.S. 67 project to the state line, but Arkansas continues to struggle with money for the southern portion of the highway.

"Arkansas badly needs attention to bring 67 to Walnut Ridge," Lawson explained. "They don't have the money. The communities don't seem to have the resources to back the project like we do."

Completion of the project will benefit economies in Missouri and Arkansas as it opens a major transportation route between the north and Little Rock and Texas, Lawson continued.

"[Rep.] Jo Ann [Emerson] is competitive and I'm competitive," Blunt said. "We're going to look for every opportunity to move forward with these corridors of national significance."

Butler County Presiding Commissioner Ed Strenfel said an attempt by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to decertify the District 12 levee which surrounds Poplar Bluff could have a devastating economic impact on dozens of families.

Stricter regulations regarding the minimum design, operation and maintenance of levees could place more residents in special hazard areas, increasing the number of people who are required to purchase flood insurance, as well as how much flood insurance costs.

"Our phones have been ringing off the hook," Strenfel said. "One woman said her flood insurance had gone from $390 per year to $3,750 per year. We need to do something soon."

FEMA has told the county an independent evaluator must inspect the levee before November, a process that would cost $40,000, Eastern District Commissioner Butch Anderson said later.

Blunt questioned if flood insurance is needed to get and maintain home loans, but did not speak further on the subject.

He talked in detail about topics on the national landscape, including debt and the health care reform bill.

The federal government spent about $3.7 trillion in the last year, while taking in approximately $2.2 trillion, Blunt said.

"The country doesn't have the economy to sustain that kind of spending," he continued. "People on both sides appear to be genuinely scared of what will happen if we don't get this under control."

The national debt stood at $11 trillion in 2008 and is expected to double by 2012, Blunt said. The country took in slightly less than 20 percent of the gross domestic product for the 65 years before 2008, while spending about 21 percent of the GDP.

"Now we're spending 25 percent of the [GDP]," Blunt said, adding a spending target for a balanced budget needs to be set. "Part of setting that target is how big of a position do we feel the government can hold."

Current spending is unsustainable and smaller government is needed, he said.

"Voters have to decide, do they want to live in a country where government is bigger than the people or a country where the people are bigger than the government," Blunt said later, discussing cap and trade.

More government control of health care will hurt health care, Blunt said of the federal health care reform bill, adding, "I'm a repeal and replace guy."

The current law goes the wrong direction, he said, and Congress will slow down its implementation by restricting funding.

But doing nothing does not produce the right results either, Blunt said. As a U.S. representative, Blunt said he was in favor of measures that would limit medical liability and create associated or small business health plans.

"But there wasn't enough public pressure to deal with this big issue," he stated.

Reducing medical liability is the biggest way to bring down costs, Blunt said, and there is no reason someone in Missouri should not be able to buy the same policy as a person in another state.

"There is not a competitive marketplace for health insurance," he said.

Both Cookson and Richardson are also serving their first year in their elected positions.

"We're trying to move forward with some legislation to set the basic tone, that can produce jobs in the State of Missouri," Cookson said. "What's good for business and what is good for families is basically the same thing and we're focusing on making Missouri a more friendly state for businesses."

The message from voters in November was that they want smaller government, Richardson said.

"They want to reduce government and reach into the private sector," he said, adding there is a need to reverse entitlement programs such as jobless benefits. "Our employers are having trouble finding people who want good jobs. … In Poplar Bluff and Butler County, that is probably the biggest issue we're facing."

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, MO