Mathewson quits committee

The first partisan blowup in the legislature this year comes on the issue of transportation funding. Sedalia Senator Jim Mathewson has quit the senate transportation committee. He admits he’s having a hard time adjusting to being in the minority in the senate, after more than 20 years of being a leader of the majority. He proposed a $650 million tax increase for transportation before Republicans took control of the senate. He thinks he should have been allowed to handle the issue on the senate floor, no matter whose final proposal is was. Committee chairman Morris Westfall denies he ever promised Mathewson he could handle the bill.