Greetings, My Fellow Missourians

Marla and I attended a meeting in Osceola last Thursday evening on the ‘Blueprint for Development of Osceola Area Trails.’ The proposed trail is on Corps of Engineers owned land that is under the management of the Missouri Department Of Conservation. Everyone attending the meeting voted to get started on developing new recreational trails in the area. The first step is clearing and cleaning on the old Frisco Railroad bed between Osceola and Lowry City. St. Clair Economic Developer Teresa Heckenlively is awaiting confirmation of a volunteer workday to be scheduled sometime in October to focus on the 1.5 mile portion north of where NE 370 ends at Gallinipper Creek just down from the Amish Trading Post. I congratulate these organizations for spearheading this project: St. Clair County Economic Development, Osceola Optimists Club, West Central Missouri Community Action Agency, New Growth, and Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission as well as many hard working individuals with the goal to better the community! For updates on project workdays, please go to the Destination: Osceola Facebook page.

On Monday evening, the Hickory County Farm Bureau presented me with their “Friend of Agriculture” award. This is a great honor for me; it is presented every other year, and this is the third time I have received this award. It is awarded based on my voting record, participation in district, and my contributions and support to agricultural legislation and other issues.

When I went to Jefferson City on Tuesday to prepare for Veto Session, I received notification that Benton County has been awarded matching funds by the Missouri Division of Tourism to help fund marketing strategy development and media placement to increase tourism in the area. Tourism continues to be one of the most important revenue generators and job producers in the state. Congratulations to Benton County for promoting tourism in and around Truman Lake!

On Wednesday morning before Veto Session convened, I attended a presentation at the office of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce on Proposition D that will be on the ballot in November. The presentation was given by advocates for the passage of a motor fuel tax of 2.5 cents per gallon annually for four years beginning July 1, 2019. Passing this tax would generate at least $288 million annually to the State Road Fund to provide for the funding of Missouri state law enforcement and $123 million annually to local governments for road construction and maintenance which would encompass more than 13,000 miles of new highway pavement and improvements to 515 bridges statewide. Proposition D has the support of Governor Mike Parson, Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe, US Senators Blunt and McCaskill, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Chamber of Commerce, Missouri Association of Counties, Missouri Municipal League, and Missouri Association of Realtors. Find more information at www.SaferMO.com.

Access to treatment courts:

Following the annual Veto Session on Wednesday, we shifted focus to the Extraordinary Session called by the governor to address two pieces of legislation he vetoed this summer. The first bill passed by the House would expand access to treatment courts with the goal of rehabilitating more Missourians so they can return to being productive members of society.

The legislation would consolidate Missouri’s treatment courts – adult treatment court, DWI court, family treatment court, juvenile treatment court, and veterans treatment court – and update state statute to reflect the reality of the treatment court system today. It would allow for the expansion of treatment courts to counties that don’t have them, and it would allow an individual in a county without a treatment court to be transferred to one with a court as long as all parties agree to the transfer.

The legislation now awaits approval today in the Senate before moving to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

Stem careers:

The second bill approved by the Missouri House of Representatives during Extraordinary Session takes an important step to encourage more young people to pursue career paths in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. The legislation (HB 3) is meant to better prepare tomorrow’s workforce for the many unfilled computer science positions in the technology industry. House members gave bipartisan support to the bill and have sent it to the Missouri Senate for consideration.

Real ID grace period extended:

Missouri recently received a grace period that will allow Missourians to continue using their current forms of identification to fly domestically and enter federal facilities. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had granted an extension until October 10, 2018, but informed the Missouri Department of Revenue of a new grace period that will run through January 21, 2019.

The new licenses that are compliant with the REAL ID Act will not be available until March of 2019. Because of this, the state has applied for an additional extension, which the department expects to be approved, that will allow Missourians to use their existing identification until the new forms of ID are ready.

As the Missouri Department of Revenue Director said in a statement, “Between the grace period that’s now in place and the anticipated extension, Missourians should have no issue using their state-issued driver licenses and ID cards when boarding a domestic flight or for other official purposes after Oct. 10.”

4Th annual 100-mile yard sale:

A huge thank you to all the sellers, buyers, and browsers alike, that participated in the “Discover More on Route 54” Annual 100-Mile Yard Sale during Labor Day weekend. Its popularity and success is growing every year, in addition to all the other district activities during this long holiday weekend. Mark your calendars for next year: Aug. 30 and 31, In the meantime, please “like” the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MOHwy54YardSale/ and stay tuned for updates.

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