Representatives talk legislative priorities at Chamber event

A trio of state legislators spoke with constituents about priority issues for the legislative session during the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce’s Business Advocacy Coffee event Friday, Jan. 26.

State Reps. Barry Hovis, John Voss and Jamie Burger, respectively of Districts 146, 147 and 148, attended the forum at the Osage Centre, as did an audience of about 50 Chamber members.

State Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder of District 27 was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict.

Chamber president and CEO Rob Gilligan, who hosted the event, first asked the representatives which bills they’re sponsoring and focusing on.

Voss said he is focused on House Bill 2135, which would make marijuana a controlled substance that would violate employers’ drug-free workplace policies.

Audience members listen to a trio of state representatives during a Business Advocacy Coffee event hosted by the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Jan. 26. Some 50 chamber members attended the forum.Christopher Borro

“The business community in Cape Girardeau reached out to me and asked me to sponsor that. There are some concerns with marijuana now being legal in our state and its effect on the workplace,” Voss said. “We’re protecting an employer’s right to a drug-free workplace.”

Hovis said he is working on passing HB 2475, a right-to-repair bill for agricultural machinery.

“I’m trying to bring the agricultural side up to what’s already on the automotive side,” he said.

Burger said he is aiming to get HB 2153 passed. This bill would prohibit other states, particularly ones in the western part of the country, from pumping Missouri’s water without proper permits.

“We don’t want to send a 4-foot pipe of water all the way to California. They have ample drinking water they can get from the Pacific Ocean. They can treat that water and drink it. It may be expensive, but that’s what they’re going to need to do,” he said.

Other bills

Hovis, Voss and Burger all railed against various proposed bills that would eliminate all sales taxes on food.

“Those could be pretty devastating for several of our communities. ... Listen, nobody wants to pay taxes on necessities, but we cannot continue to strip away all the sales tax, all the property tax and expect that we can provide services at the local level,” Voss said. “We need revenue to run the state.”

Burger and Hovis both pointed out that states without certain taxes, such as sales or property taxes, often raise other taxes to make up the difference.

Transportation needs

Burger praised Gov. Mike Parson for investing $200 million to improve some 2,000 miles of lettered roadways across the state but said more should be done.

“Those lettered routes are our farm-to-market routes. They’re also our school bus routes, which carry our most valuable assets,” Burger said.

He added he would like to bump the amount invested up by several hundred million dollars.

“Instead of fixing one road that’s a lettered route in a county, we need to fix two or three roads that are lettered routes in a county,” he said.

Voss said it is important to improve highways and invest in ports, as well.

Ballot initiatives

The representatives discussed ongoing proposals to change how the Missouri Constitution can be amended through ballot initiatives.

“Your Constitution should be your sacred document that protects your rights, your liberties, things on how the government works. What we’ve turned the Constitution into, in my opinion, is now if you have enough money you can get 50% of the vote plus one (person),” Hovis said.

Voss said there are currently proposals to make initiatives need 55% or 57% of voters to pass, or even to require a majority of congressional districts pass them instead of individual voters.

He said he was unsure whether any proposed changes would become law, though he added he did think the Missouri Constitution is too easy to change.

Future updates

Friday’s forum was the fifth Business Advocacy Coffee event. Gilligan said two are held in the spring with state legislators and two are held in the fall with local municipal leaders.

The next Business Advocacy Coffee is scheduled for Friday, March 29. Legislators will convene to provide a mid-session update on how bills are progressing in Jefferson City.