Several groups are already jockeying for position in the race to affect next year’s legislation. Associated Industries of Missouri officials have outlined their legislative agenda for the upcoming session, which includes unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, business tax credits and transportation. AIM President Gary Marble, a former Republican state representative from Neosho, says his members should be involved in the legislative process to support business interests. AIM’s Norb Plassmeyer says helping businesses helps everyone in the state, adding it also helps the state’s bottom line, because when businesses make more money, they pay more in taxes. Marble admits Republican control of the state House and Senate will probably help some of his group’s ideas come to fruition as new legislation, but he says any new bill will still have to be palatable enough to Governor Bob Holden, a Democrat, to finally become law.
