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Missourinet

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Parson and Galloway focusing on rural Missouri in final days of campaign; both appealing to blue-collar voters (AUDIO)

October 30, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The two main gubernatorial candidates are focusing on rural Missouri again Friday, and during the final days of the campaign.

Governor Mike Parson (R) brings his “Mike works bus tour” to four rural western Missouri towns: his hometown of Bolivar, as well as Clinton, Belton and El Dorado Springs. He’ll finish Friday evening in Springfield.

The governor tells Missourinet he feels confident about where the race is and that he’s on message. Parson also says that if he wins Tuesday, he’ll continue to focus on putting people first.

“I think what we seen what we did by taking the largest income tax cut in our state’s history, by creating 40,000 new jobs by focusing on workforce development and infrastructure,” Parson says, highlighting achievements of his term.

Parson will speak at Friday evening’s “Keep Missouri Red Rally” in Springfield, with former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Sanders will also join the governor Saturday for a rally in eastern Missouri’s St. Peters.

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, will meet Friday morning with Teamsters Union members in Springfield and with UAW members in Pleasant Valley.

She campaigned Thursday in Columbia, before heading to southwest Missouri’s Marshfield and Springfield. During an interview with Missourinet outside her bus in Columbia, Galloway says rural voters tell her that Jefferson City is disconnected from what matters to them, in their communities.

“Rural hospitals are closing. Jobs are leaving the area,” Galloway says. “They’re concerned about funding for their schools, which are the center of those rural communities.”

The Missouri Hospital Association (MHA) says ten rural hospitals have closed in Missouri, since 2014. Click here to see the full map and years. To be clear, several of those closings happened when Governor Jay Nixon (D) was in office.

But several have also happened during the tenure of Governors Eric Greitens (R) and Parson.

While Parson and Galloway disagree on numerous policy issues, one thing they both have been doing during the campaign’s final stretch is campaign heavily in rural towns across the state.

Galloway says her top priority, if elected governor, will be implementation of Medicaid expansion.

“Making sure that not only folks have access to affordable health insurance, but also have access to health care, meaning we can keep our rural hospitals open and open clinics in parts of our state that desperately need it,” says Galloway.

In August, Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion for residents between the ages of 19 and 64 with an income level at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. While the issue was defeated in 105 of Missouri’s 114 counties, Galloway notes it passed by six points statewide, and that hundreds of thousands of votes from rural residents were key to its passage.

Galloway also says Missouri needs a reset on COVID strategy, so people can get back to work.

During a campaign stop Tuesday at Emery Sapp and Sons in Columbia, Governor Parson emphasized his rural roots, and talked about growing up in southwest Missouri’s Wheatland. He also discussed saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school.

He’s also emphasizing his experience.

“I think what people are seeing right now with everything we’ve been through is experience does matter at a time like this, and I think that’s one of the things I have,” says Parson. “All the way from serving my country in the military, law enforcement, being a business owner.”

Parson says it’s important to take a balanced approach to combating COVID, and that it’s crucial to look at the state as a whole. He says businesses are opening back up, and children are back in school.

Both candidates are appealing to blue-collar voters.

Parson praised their work ethic during his speech at Emery Sapp and Sons, talking about the workers wearing coveralls in the back of the room. He noted he had done work like that. It drew applause from the audience.

As for Galloway, she told her audience on Thursday that Governor Parson’s supporters want to make Missouri a right-to-work state. She’s pledging to veto a right-to-work bill, if she’s elected. That also drew applause from her audience.

Election day is Tuesday across Missouri.

Click here to listen to Governor Mike Parson speak to Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and other reporters at Columbia’s Emery Sapp and Sons on October 27, 2020:

https://cdn.missourinet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/parsonraw.mp3

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway, on October 29, 2020 in Columbia:

https://cdn.missourinet.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/bh-gallowayOctober2020.mp3

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Agriculture, Elections, News Tagged With: Belton, blue-collar voters, Bolivar, Clinton, Columbia, El Dorado Springs, Emery Sapp and Sons, former Governor Eric Greitens, former Governor Jay Nixon, former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Jefferson City, Medicaid expansion, Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway, Missouri Governor Mike Parson, Pleasant Valley, Pledge of Allegiance, right-to-work, rural hospitals, Springfield, St. Peters

Christofanelli: online map highlights Missouri’s high number of taxing districts (AUDIO)

July 9, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The state Department of Revenue (DOR) has posted a map of Missouri’s special taxing districts and political subdivisions on its website.

State Rep. Phil Christofanelli, R-St. Peters, speaks on the Missouri House floor on March 12, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The Legislature approved a bill in 2018 requiring the map, and gave DOR about a year to comply.

State Rep. Phil Christofanelli, R-St. Peters, who sponsored the bill, says it’s about transparency.

“Missouri has more taxing districts than virtually anywhere else in the country. We have over 2,200,” Christofanelli says. “Over 1,400 of those are what are known as special taxing districts.”

The map includes ambulance districts, fire protection districts, levee and port authority districts, transportation development districts and school districts.

Representative Christofanelli tells Missourinet there are sales tax rates of 11.5 percent in the Kansas City area, and 10 to 11 percent in the St. Louis region.

“Sales tax disproportionately impacts people of lower incomes, because they spend a greater proportion of their wealth on consumption,” says Christofanelli.

He’s encouraging you to check the map, saying it will help you learn where the districts are.

“Go to (the map) where you live and see what’s in your county and make sure that you feel like you are getting the level of government service that you’re paying for,” Christofanelli says.

He says only 86 percent of taxing districts have turned in their information to the state, adding that he’s working with DOR officials and the taxing districts to get that to 100 percent.

Christofanelli’s 2018 bill requiring the map had strong, bipartisan support. It passed the Senate 28-0 and the House 120-1, and was signed into law by former Governor Eric Greitens (R).

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full five-minute interview with State Rep. Phil Christofanelli, R-St. Peters, which was recorded on July 3, 2019:

https://cdn.missourinet.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/bh-repchristofanelliJuly2019.mp3

Copyright © 2019 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Agriculture, Business, Legislature, News, Transportation Tagged With: Missouri Department of Revenue, Missouri House, Missouri Senate, St. Peters, State Rep. Phil Christofanelli



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