Capitol Plaza Hotel Archives

The nation’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will deliver the keynote address Thursday morning in Jefferson City at the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast.

North Sarah Apartment resident Lonnie Nunn (left) welcomes U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson into her home in St. Louis on March 29, 2019 (file photo by Bill Greenblatt UPI)

Former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson is the nation’s 17th HUD Secretary.

Hundreds of people are expected to pack the Capitol Plaza Hotel near the Missouri Capitol for the breakfast, which is an annual interfaith event for Missouri lawmakers and citizens.

Governor Mike Parson (R) will speak at the breakfast, and Secretary Carson will deliver the keynote. State lawmakers from both political parties attend the breakfast, which is from 7:30 to 9.

Event organizers say the purpose of the Governor’s Prayer Breakfast is to seek God’s guidance for state and legislative leaders at the start of the legislative session.

Missouri’s 2020 session began Wednesday in Jefferson City.

Secretary Carson was in Missouri in March 2019, to speak in St. Louis about the federal “Opportunity Zones” program. The program offers capital gains tax relief to those who invest in economically-depressed areas.

Dr. Carson spoke that day at the North Sarah Apartments, a HUD-supported housing complex that’s located in an opportunity zone.