History Archives - Missourinet

What we’re watching next week in Missouri Legislature: budget, oversight hearings and MLB antitrust exemption pushback

April 17, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

The proposed state operating budget will be heading to the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee in Jefferson City next week for daily hearings and for consideration. The state Constitution requires lawmakers to approve a balanced budget by early May.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith (R-Carthage) and State Rep. Brad Hudson (R-Cape Fair) have a discussion on the Missouri House floor on April 1, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The Missouri House approved a $34.1 billion state operating budget this month, a budget which does not contain funding for Medicaid expansion. It includes a $76 million increase for foster and adoptive children, including a 45 percent increase to the clothing allowance for foster teens.

Kids Win Missouri policy director Craig Stevenson says the House budget provides unprecedented support for the kinship and foster families who care for the thousands of children in Missouri foster care. The state Department of Social Services (DSS) notes there are currently
13,939 foster care children in Missouri.

“It increases everything from the maintenance, the monthly maintenance payments that foster guardian and adoptive parents get. But then also increases important things like the diaper allowance for people who are caring for infants,” Stevenson told Missourinet this month.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith (R-Carthage) tells Missourinet that he will not be testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee next week. He says Committee Chairman State Sen. Dan Hegeman (R-Cosby) will be the Senate handler.

The House has also approved a budget blueprint from Chairman Smith that directs dollars slated for Medicaid expansion for other programs. Smith says it’s a $342 million bill. That includes $88 million for long-term care in nursing facilities, $15.5 million for k-12 school transportation, $2 million for adult high schools, $11.6 million for the Department of Mental Health (DMH) for alcohol and drug abuse treatment, $53 million to DMH for adult community programs and $30 million for programs like respite care, adult day care and home-delivered meals.

House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chair Rep. Jered Taylor (R-Nixa) speaks on the Missouri House floor in April 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Democrats in the Missouri Senate are expected to try to restore funding for Medicaid expansion, which was approved by 53 percent of Missouri voters in August.

The issue of oversight will also get more attention next week in the Missouri House.

The House Special Committee on Government Oversight plans Monday and Tuesday hearings about operations within the Department of Social Services (DSS) and the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR). The issues at faith-based boarding schools like the now-defunct Circle of Hope will likely be discussed again.

Prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) legislation will be heard by the Missouri House Veterans Committee on Tuesday afternoon. The committee will hear testimony from bill sponsor State Sen. Holly Rehder (R-Scott City). The Senate has given final approval to PDMP, which is an electronic database that collects data on controlled substance prescriptions within a state. Missouri is the only state in the nation without a PDMP.

Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) supports PDMP, saying it provides a layer of protection against drug and dependency and dangerous drug interactions.

Meantime, the Missouri Senate Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee meets Tuesday to hear testimony from State Sen. Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) about his resolution, which urges Congress to end Major League Baseball’s (MLB) federal antitrust exemption. Senator Brattin’s resolution is in response to MLB’s decision to move the All-Star game from Atlanta because of Georgia legislation requiring photo ID.

“This is yet another instance of corporate virtue signaling and sports stoking the culture wars in this country,” Brattin said last week. He also says MLB is undercutting the basis of its antitrust exemption. He notes the exemption has been in place since a 1922 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Critics of the Georgia law say it will make it more difficult for minorities and the elderly to vote.

Missouri’s gasoline tax will also be discussed this week. The Missouri House Transportation Committee meets Wednesday afternoon at 5 to hear testimony from Pro Tem Schatz (R-Sullivan) about his bill, which increases the state’s gasoline tax by 2.5 cents each year, for a total of a 12.5 cent per gallon increase by 2025. The GOP-controlled Missouri Senate has already given final approval to the bill.

Missouri’s 17-cent per gallon gasoline tax has remained the same since 1996.

Missouri House Oversight Committee chair announces DOLIR is suspending collection of unemployment overpayments (AUDIO)

April 16, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Just two days after being grilled again by state lawmakers in both parties, the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR) is suspending all collection of unemployment overpayments, at this time.

Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chair Rep. Jered Taylor (R-Nixa) speaks on the House floor on March 4, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Missouri House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chairman State Rep. Jered Taylor (R-Nixa) made the announcement on the House floor Thursday in Jefferson City, to bipartisan applause.

“So I just want to let the members (state representatives) know that all collection efforts for all Missourians, 46,000 people who are having overpayment collection efforts being taken on them right now, are all on pause and again that’s due to the work that our (oversight) committee did so thank you, Mr. Speaker,” Chairman Taylor says.

DOLIR has posted a short message on its website, which confirms what Chairman Taylor said on the floor.

DOLIR has testified that the state overpaid more than $150 million in unemployment benefits last year and that 46,000 Missourians have been impacted by the unemployment overpayments.

Taylor says collections are being suspended “until we get the work done in this body.”

“And it’s due to the good work of the Government Oversight Committee, so I just wanted to thank the members for holding the Department (of Labor) accountable and holding them to what they agreed to to our body,” says Taylor.

State Rep. Raychel Proudie (D-Ferguson), the oversight committee’s ranking Democrat, has raised the same concerns that Taylor has.

The issue has been the subject of several bipartisan hearings by the Oversight Committee, which also learned about the COVID pandemic’s massive impact on Missouri’s economy and on the unemployment system.

DOLIR Director Anna Hui testified in February that Missouri paid out $236 million in unemployment benefits in 2019. That number increased to $5.1 billion in 2020, due to the pandemic.

During that February hearing, lawmakers in both parties said that Missourians who didn’t commit fraud should not have to repay money, because the state made the error.

State Rep. Richard Brown (D-Kansas City), the assistant minority floor leader, told Director Hui that a woman he knows received a letter in January, asking her to repay $23,000. Representative Brown has said the woman doesn’t have the money.

During the February hearing, State Rep. J. Eggleston (R-Maysville) read a letter from a northwest Missouri teacher who was told that she must repay $9,000, because of the state’s error. Representative Eggleston said that day that the teacher wishes she had been denied unemployment, to begin with.

Click here to listen to the short announcement from House Special Committee on Government Oversight Chairman State Rep. Jered Taylor (R-Nixa), which was made on the Missouri House floor on April 15, 2021:

Military installations have major presence in Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District

April 15, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri House committee on congressional redistricting will hear public testimony Thursday morning in Jefferson City from residents who live in west-central Missouri’s Fourth Congressional District.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Harrisonville) is serving in her sixth term on Capitol Hill (file photo courtesy of the congresswoman’s website)

The 24-county district includes Columbia, Moberly, Sedalia, Warrensburg, Waynesville, Lebanon and Nevada. Fort Leonard Wood near Waynesville and Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster are both located in the 4th District.

In-person and written testimony will be accepted Thursday morning at 8:30 at the Statehouse. The Missouri House Special Committee on Redistricting is looking for information from residents about the district’s characteristics, including the things that make it good and bad.

U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Harrisonville) has represented the district since 2011. She is serving in her sixth term on Capitol Hill, and is on the House Armed Services and Agriculture committees.

Congresswoman Hartzler defeated Democrat Lindsey Simmons in November, winning 67 percent of the vote. Hartzler received 245,247 votes, to Simmons’ 107,635.

The late U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Lexington) was the last Democrat to represent the sprawling district. He served 17 terms and 34 years in Congress, including a stint as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Skelton served in Congress from 1977 to 2011. Hartzler unseated him in November 2010.

What we’re watching this week in Missouri Legislature: federal stimulus funding, state budget and workers compensation issues (AUDIO)

April 12, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Testimony involving stimulus dollars under the federal “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021”, alternatives to Medicaid expansion and workers compensation for firefighters and first responders will highlight this week in the Missouri Legislature in Jefferson City.

State Rep. Doug Richey (R-Excelsior Springs) speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on March 18, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The 2021 session has about a month to go. The last day of session will be Friday, May 14.

A brand-new Missouri House Subcommittee on Federal Stimulus Spending will meet for the first time Monday morning in Jefferson City. They’ll gavel-in at 11 a.m. Committee Chairman State Rep. Doug Richey (R-Excelsior Springs) is humbled by the appointment.

“It is a committee that will be doing some very important work in terms of vetting both the priorities and the need for these federal stimulus dollars that are yet to even be received,” Richey says.

The subcommittee will hear testimony on Monday about capital improvement needs that could be eligible for federal stimulus funds under the Rescue plan. President Joe Biden (D) signed the bill, and House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith (R-Carthage) has said that he expects Missouri to receive billions of dollars in federal funding.

“There will be opportunity for several one-time appropriations for capital improvements and deferred maintenance that we know exist throughout the state,” says Richey.

He tells Missourinet that examples include universities, public safety, mental health and hospitals and state buildings.

Chairman Richey is emphasizing the importance of due diligence. He tweeted Saturday that “the American Rescue Plan isn’t funded by tax payer dollars, it’s funded by tax payer indebtedness.”

The Medicaid expansion issue will also come up again this week in the Legislature.

The Missouri House Budget Committee is expected to vote Tuesday on a budget blueprint from Chairman Smith, a plan which directs dollars slated for Medicaid expansion for other programs, including MO HealthNet. That’s the state Medicaid program.

Smith outlined the plan last week. House Bill 21, an eight-page bill, is just over $1 billion. $894 million of that would come from federal funds.

Funding includes $26 million for programs like respite care, adult day care and home-delivered meals. Chairman Smith testifies the funding also includes $88.2 million for funding long-term care services for care in nursing facilities. HB 21 also includes $18 million for k-12 public school transportation, and $2 million for adult high schools. It also includes $11.6 million for treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, and $2.2 million for youth community programs. It also provides about $1 million in additional funding for the State Public Defender System.

State Rep. Robert Sauls (D-Independence) speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on March 31, 2021 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Democrats on the Budget Committee are expected to oppose the plan, saying that 53 percent of Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion in August. Regardless of the committee vote, the issue will almost certainly be debated again on the House floor soon.

The Missouri House Public Safety Committee will meet Tuesday morning to hear legislation from State Rep. Robert Sauls (D-Independence), which involves workers compensation for firefighters and first responders.

“This is a bill that protects those who protect us. The firefighter cancer presumption bill creates a presumption that if a firefighter develops cancer, he or she got it as a result of the hazardous toxins of which he or she was regularly exposed. There is also a component to PTSD for first responders. I am proud of this bill and it is far overdue,” Sauls tells Missourinet.

Sauls’ House Bill 863 would allow Missouri firefighters and first responders to receive workers compensation for diseases of the heart or cardiovascular system, any infectious diseases, diseases of the body systems or organs from carcinoma, and diseases of the lungs or respiratory tract.

Across the Capitol Rotunda in the Missouri Senate, the chamber is expected to take up legislation involving mechanical contractors early this week. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) tells Missourinet he expects his Senate Bill 11 to hit the floor on Monday.

Schatz’s bill is called the “Missouri Statewide Mechanical Contractor Licensing Act.” Under the bill, the statewide mechanical license for mechanical contractors would be regulated by the Division of Professional Registration, within the state Department of Commerce and Insurance. The bill creates the Office of Mechanical Contractors, within the division.

Pro Tem Schatz also says education reform legislation could go to the Senate floor this week.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full four-minute interview with Missouri House Subcommittee on Federal Stimulus Spending Chairman Rep. Doug Richey (R-Excelsior Springs), which was recorded on April 9, 2021:

Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska governors plan bipartisan Thursday meeting on river and Corps-related issues

April 8, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor will join the governors of Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska Thursday afternoon in Council Bluffs, to follow-up on Missouri River issues and about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Governor Mike Parson talks to Missouri National Guard members in northern Missouri on June 3, 2019, after an aerial tour of massive flooding (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

This will be at least the fourth bipartisan meeting between Governor Mike Parson (R) and Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts (R), Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) and Kansas Governor Laura Kelly (D). While their 3 p.m. meeting will be closed, the governors will brief reporters after the event at the Council Bluffs Police Department.

The governors have signed a four-state agreement to cooperate on issues relating to flood control and the Corps.

Governor Parson is still frustrated over the 2019 flooding, which hit northern Missouri especially hard. The Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest general farm organization, says more than 1.4 million acres of farmland in the state went unplanted in 2019, due to flooding.

The flooding also caused the October 2019 collapse of the heavily-traveled railroad bridge over the Grand River in northern Missouri’s Brunswick, causing Norfolk Southern to suspend freight train service between Moberly and Kansas City for a time.

Brunswick is a small farming community, between Carrollton and Moberly. The National Weather Service (NWS) Missouri Basin River forecast center said in 2019 that backwater from flood debris helped cause that bridge to collapse. The logjam collapsed the train tracks.

Governor Parson will also be heading to northwest Missouri’s rural Rock Port on Thursday morning, to tour a major levee known as L-536. He’ll tour the levee and will meet with farmers who were impacted by the 2019 flooding.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Tarkio), who’s the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee on Capitol Hill, has told Missourinet that flood control and navigation must be the top priority for the Corps, regarding the Missouri River.

Rural Missouri congressional district has more square miles than nine U.S. states

April 7, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri House committee working on congressional redistricting will hear public testimony Thursday morning in Jefferson City from residents in northern Missouri’s massive Sixth Congressional District, which covers more square miles than nine U.S. states.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (left) meets with Missouri Governor Mike Parson at the Capitol in Jefferson City on February 24, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The district includes 36 of Missouri’s 114 counties. The Sixth District includes St. Joseph, Tarkio, Cameron, Chillicothe, Bethany, Trenton, Kirksville, Macon and Hannibal. The Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are both in the district.

The district is represented by U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Tarkio), who’s the dean of Missouri’s congressional delegation. He’s serving his 11th term on Capitol Hill.

The Missouri House Special Committee on Redistricting will meet Thursday at 8:30 a.m. at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. The committee will hear in-person testimony, and written testimony will also be accepted. Committee Chair Dan Shaul (R-Imperial) says the committee is looking for information on what makes the district good and bad, and key characteristics about the district.

Flooding has been a major issue in the district, for the past 30 years. The flood of 1993 devastated the district. The entire town of Pattonsburg had to be relocated. The floods of 1995 and 2019 also caused major problems. Congressman Graves has been critical of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for how they’ve managed the Missouri River.

Agriculture is also a big issue in the district, as is transportation. The district includes I-29, I-35 and Highway 36. Graves is the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Graves was re-elected to his 11th term in November, beating Democrat Gena Ross with 67 percent of the vote. Graves received 258,709 votes, while Ross received 118,926 votes.

Northern Missouri hasn’t sent a Democrat to Capitol Hill since former U.S. Rep. Pat Danner (D-Smithville), who served four terms from 1993-2000. The late U.S. Rep. Jerry Litton (D-Chillicothe) also represented the district, serving two terms from 1973-1976. Congressman Litton was killed in a plane crash in August 1976, after winning Missouri’s Democratic U.S. Senate nomination.

Missouri’s House Budget Committee chair outlines alternative to Medicaid expansion; Kirk Mathews is Acting Medicaid director

April 6, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s House Budget Committee learned new details Tuesday in Jefferson City about a budget blueprint from the committee chair to direct dollars slated for Medicaid expansion for other programs, including MO HealthNet. That’s the state Medicaid program.

Missouri House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith (R-Carthage) speaks on the House floor in Jefferson City on April 1, 2021 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Democrats are expected to oppose the plan, saying Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion in August.

Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith (R-Carthage) and the House Appropriations director presented House Bill 21, which is an eight-page bill. It’s just over $1 billion, with $894 million of that coming from federal funds.

“This is an appropriation, a rate increase, that again as you (the House Appropriations director) noted, it’s written as a one-time increase. I think it’s up for up for question as to whether or not this should be a general revenue increase, or perhaps an f-map increase,” Smith testifies.

He says this involves a one-time nursing facility rate increase of about $10 per day.

While Chairman Smith opposes Medicaid expansion, his plan would provide an additional $735 million to the MO HealthNet Division for transitional payments. House Appropriations Director Glenn Fitzgerald testifies this is a brand-new proposal.

“This is 735-and-a-half million (dollars) federal funds for transitional payments related to Medicaid reform,” Fitzgerald testifies.

Then-State Rep. Kirk Mathews (R-Eureka) speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on April 7, 2016 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

HB 21 also includes $18 million for k-12 public school transportation, and $2 million for adult high schools. It also includes $11.6 million for treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, and $2.2 million for youth community programs. It also provides about $1 million in additional funding for the State Public Defender System.

There was no testimony in support or in opposition to Smith’s bill on Tuesday. Chairman Smith tells the audience that he hopes for a mark-up on either Thursday or Monday. This is a short week in Jefferson City, due to the Easter break.

Medicaid is a federal and state program that assists with medical costs for residents with limited incomes. 53 percent of Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion in August, although it failed in 105 of the state’s 114 counties. Rural House members from those districts have led the opposition to funding Medicaid expansion.

House Democrats and Amendment Two supporters say Missouri voters have spoken. They say Medicaid expansion will help the working poor by expanding the program for residents between the ages of 19 and 64 with an income level at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level.

The House voted to give final approval last week to a $34.1 billion state operating budget, which does not contain funding for Medicaid expansion.

We also learned during Tuesday’s one-hour hearing that former State Rep. Kirk Mathews (R-Eureka) is serving as the interim director at Missouri Medicaid, with Director Todd Richardson out on leave.

Mathews has been MO HealthNet’s chief transformation officer. He was first elected to the Missouri House in 2014 and and served two terms, from 2015-2018.

Former state legislator Kolkmeyer is focused on protecting Missouri ratepayers at Public Service Commission (AUDIO)

April 5, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A former state lawmaker who’s been appointed to the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) is grateful for the appointment, and is pledging to focus on protecting Missouri utility ratepayers.

Former State Rep. Glen Kolkmeyer (R-Odessa) speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on March 18, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Former State Rep. Glen Kolkmeyer (R-Odessa) served eight years in the House, from 2013 to 2020. He was forced out by term limits. Mr. Kolkmeyer is also the former Missouri Propane Gas Association president, and served as Wellington-Napoleon’s fire chief from 1982-2002.

“Three weeks ago, I was extremely honored when Governor Mike Parson called and asked me to serve on the Missouri Public Service Commission, as a commissioner. I was just extremely honored,” Kolkmeyer says.

The PSC regulates investor-owned electric, natural gas, steam, water and sewer utilities in Missouri. The PSC also has some jurisdiction over telecommunication providers in Missouri.

“Honestly, I don’t know that I have any big priorities other than just protecting the citizens of Missouri with the utilities. That’s really my one and only goal and focus,” says Kolkmeyer.

Kolkmeyer is a former chairman of both the Missouri House Transportation Committee and the House Administration and Accounts Committee. He tells Missourinet that he learned a lot about utilities, while serving in the House.

“I served on (the Missouri House) Transportation (Committee) all eight years and we dealt with a few of these issues. Also, issues on the (House) floor, but I also served two years on the Utilities Committee in the House,” Kolkmeyer says.

He was a leader on transportation issues in the House, and pushed unsuccessfully for a ten-cent gasoline tax increase in November 2018. Proposition D, which was rejected by voters, would have provided the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) with additional funding. Missouri’s 17-cent per gallon gas tax has remained the same since 1996.

Kolkmeyer, who represented Jackson, Johnson and Lafayette counties, was re-elected to his fourth and final House term in 2018. He received about 69 percent of the vote to defeat Democratic challenger Connie Simmons.

Meantime, former Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr (R-Springfield) is praising the appointment, tweeting that he’s proud and excited for Kolkmeyer. Speaker Haahr describes Kolkmeyer as one of the best in the Missouri Legislature.

His appointment requires Missouri Senate confirmation, and he will go before the Senate Gubernatorial Appointments Committee. A hearing date hasn’t been set yet.

State Sen. Denny Hoskins (R-Warrensburg), who represents Lafayette County, tells Missourinet that he looks forward to sponsoring Kolkmeyer’s nomination.

Click here to listen to the full two-minute interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and former State Rep. Glen Kolkmeyer (R-Odessa), which was recorded on April 2, 2021:

Residents in southwest Missouri’s 7th congressional district to testify Thursday at Capitol in Jefferson City

April 1, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A Missouri House committee on congressional redistricting will take public testimony on Thursday morning in Jefferson City from residents who live in southwest Missouri’s Seventh Congressional District.

U.S. Rep. Billy Long (R-Springfield) speaks to frontline health care workers at Mercy Joplin on February 2, 2021 (file photo courtesy of Congressman Long’s Twitter page)

The Republican stronghold includes Springfield, Joplin, Branson, Carthage, Bolivar and the communities around Table Rock Lake.

In-person and written testimony will be accepted Thursday morning at 8. House Special Committee on Redistricting Chairman Rep. Dan Shaul (R-Imperial) says the committee wants information from residents about the district’s characteristics, including things that make it good and bad.

U.S. Rep. Billy Long (R-Springfield) has represented the district since 2011. Long is now in his sixth term on Capitol Hill.

Congressman Long faced Democratic opponent Teresa Montseny in November, winning the election with 69 percent of the vote. Long received 254,318 votes, to Montseny’s 98,111 votes.

The district hasn’t sent a Democrat to Washington since the late Congressman Charlie Brown, who served two terms from 1957-1960.

Agriculture and transportation are major issues in the district, which includes I-44. The district has also been impacted over the years by flooding and by numerous tornadoes, including the deadly Joplin tornado in 2011. The EF-5 tornado killed 162 people.

Southeast Missouri congressman considering U.S. Senate run in 2022; pledges to fight for working families (AUDIO)

March 30, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

A southern Missouri congressman who serves as the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee says he’s considering a run for the U.S. Senate in 2022. U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem) spoke to Missourinet Monday evening outside the Statehouse in Jefferson City, after he met with the governor about the issue of feral hogs.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem) is outside the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on March 29, 2021 (Brian Hauswirth photo)

“I will just say that I would put my record fighting for working-class families, farmers, small business owners and my conservative credentials amongst any names that’s been out there or suggested for the United States Senate,” Smith says.

Former Governor Eric Greitens and Attorney General Eric Schmitt, both Republicans, have announced they’re running for the Senate. Former State Sen. Scott Sifton (D-Affton) and Jefferson City native Lucas Kunce are two Democrats who have announced. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has also been mentioned as a possible Senate candidate.

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R) is retiring. He’s finishing his second six-year Senate term on Capitol Hill.

Smith, who represents 30 counties in southern and southeast Missouri, emphasizes that he hasn’t made a decision yet.

“I was elected by the good people of southeast Missouri to do a job in Washington D.C. as the Republican leader of the (House) Budget Committee. I’m fighting everyday for our rural way of life to make sure that (President Joe) Biden doesn’t take away our freedoms and liberties, and that is my focus right now,” says Smith.

The Budget Committee is chaired by U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky), and Smith is the committee’s top Republican.

Smith, who’s served in Congress since 2013, was re-elected in November with 77 percent of the vote against Festus social worker Kathy Ellis. The sprawling Eighth Congressional District includes Cape Girardeau, Farmington, Poplar Bluff, Portageville, Kennett, West Plains and Rolla.

Meantime, Congressman Smith and 70 other congressional Republicans have signed a letter, calling for an investigation into the suspension of the southern border wall construction. Smith says President Biden’s decision has fueled a crisis at the border.

“What the president did on his first three hours in office, by a declaration, was to halt funding that was appropriated by Congress in a bipartisan way. You’re talking about billions of dollars that was appropriated in a bipartisan way, and he halted the construction of the southern border,” Smith says.

President Biden issued a January 20 proclamation, saying that building a massive wall that spans the entire southern border “is not a serious policy solution.” President Biden described it as a waste of money that diverts attention from genuine threats to our homeland security. President Biden says his administration is committed to ensuring that the United States has a comprehensive and humane immigration system that operates consistently with our nation’s values.

As for the feral hog issue, Governor Mike Parson says State Sen. Jason Bean (R-Holcomb) also participated in Monday’s meeting with Congressman Smith, as well as Missouri Department of Conservation Director Sara Parker-Pauley and representatives from the USDA and U.S. Forest Service.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Salem), which was recorded outside the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City on March 29, 2021: