SEDALIA- Missouri Farm Bureau President Blake Hurst says their organization’s top priority this fall is passage of the extension of Missouri’s parks, soils and water sales tax. Hurst participated in Thursday’s roundtable discussion with Governor Jay Nixon (D) at the State Fair in Sedalia.

Representative Craig Redmon (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Representative Craig Redmon (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

State Rep. Tim Remole (R-Excello), the Missouri House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee Vice Chairman, says our state parks are a “fantastic resource”.

“They don’t charge for that, and you know, you can come and enjoy, people take their families there, I take my family to a lot of parks, we just got back from a float trip. Missouri is really special in that way,” Remole says.

The one-tenth-of-one-percent parks, soils and water sales tax was created through a constitutional amendment, and was first approved by Missouri voters in 1984. It was earmarked specifically for the state park system and efforts to stop soil erosion.

Voters have reapproved it three times: in 1988, 1996 and 2006.

State Rep. Craig Redmon (R-Canton) says the extension has bipartisan support. Redmon, Remole and State Rep. Chuck Basye (R-Rocheport) were among the GOP lawmakers who attended Democratic Governor Nixon’s roundtable discussion. Redmon also says the Farm Bureau and Sierra Club’s support of the renewal highlights the measure’s broad support.

“The soil, you know, maintaining your soil qualities and keeping the erosion down, and then you’ve got the state parks. Tourism is our number two industry in the state, so it is nice to see people get along,” Redmon says.

Redmon chairs the Missouri House Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources. Nixon says the tax has helped prevent 177 million tons of soil from eroding into state waterways.