Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson, R, is proposing an additional $50,000 next budget year to hire someone on a part-time basis to drive him around the state and for legal matters the office needs help with. The House Budget Committee is working on a $29 billion proposed state budget that begins in July.
Lt. Gov. Mike Parson
“I hope all of you realize, as lieutenant governor I’ve tried to do my job to its fullest,” says Parson. “I try to get around the state, no matter whose district it is or where it is, to make sure that the people of Missouri are represented.”
Parson says the House Budget Committee fulfilled the ask last year but the Senate removed the funding request.
“We did almost close to 150 stops last year around the state. Needless to say, the state of Missouri is a big state. It takes a lot to travel,” he says.
Parson says his six employees are committed to fulfilling the tasks of their jobs.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Parson, a former State Senator from mid-Missouri’s Bolivar, also wanted $50,000 in the state budget in 2016 for valet parking of lawmakers’ vehicles in the Capitol’s cramped basement garage.
His office, which has no legal staff, is dealing with legal fees to assist with an investigation of the St. Louis Veterans Home and its “Buy Missouri” program.
