A 22-member committee that spent the summer asking people how to pay for Missouri’s road and bridge program is putting together its final report.
The committee led by former House Speaker Rod Jetton and former Senate leader Bill McKenna held seven public hearings and heard hours of ideas. The dominant issue boils down to money and how to raise it. But politicians from both parties have freely tossed around proclamations that no “job killing taxes” should be passed. Jetton was one of the loudest when he was in the House. “Republicans have drug the Democrats along because nobody wants to be for taxes. But I think when you look at the infrastructure needs of the state of the Missouri. Hopefully not just legislators and politicians, but average voters are going to have to decide it. I think people are seeing the need,” he says.
Jetton says he has changed his attitude toward the transportation department. He was a strong critic of the department when he was in active politics. But he says the department is getting its projects done on time and under budge. And he thinks taxpayers will appreciate that.
McKenna says doing nothing is wrong. He says something has to be done in transportation to move the state along.
