Issues

Economy:

In tough economic times, the last thing we need is for the state to raise taxes to meet its responsibilities. Four years ago, our state was in dire straits starting the fiscal year with a $1 billion deficit. Most of the so-called experts told us we would have to raise taxes. However, we had a different plan. Instead of raising the taxes that your family pays, why not create a better job climate, attract more business to locate in Missouri and therefore increase the number of taxpayers? That's exactly what we did. In addition, we took a hard look at our spending and made tough decisions to cut those programs that were wasteful and not performing up to par. As I continue to serve on the Budget committee, I will continue to hold our departments accountable and require them to both live within their means and perform to your expectation. After all, your boss doesn't give you more money when your budget gets a little tight, why should we allow the state to operate any differently?

Education:

When I started in the legislature in 2005, our schools had not seen an increase in state funding since 1992. To put that in perspective, I was a sophomore at Oak Park the last time the state chipped in more for our students. Under the old formula, our state tax dollars were going to subsidize other districts with lower levies. You see, the old formula was based on tax base, not student need. Because we have a substantial local investment, the state took our taxes and sent them to districts that refused to raise their own levy. The new formula in 2005 transitioned to a student-need basis and now every student in the state is guaranteed a minimum funding from the state. In addition, if the student meets other criteria, such as disability, qualifies for free or reduced lunch, etc. the funding is adjusted up to account for those difficulties. As a result, funding increases with student population, not declining tax base. I will continue to work on the Budget committee to make sure that the phase-in is completed on schedule and that our students get the support they deserve.

Healthcare:

When I was approached by children's advocates to take a look at the situation with children's healthcare in this state, I saw right away that there was something that needed to be done. In the Budget committee, I inserted $3.3 million of general revenue which drew down $8.5 million in federal funding to make sure that every child in the state has access to healthcare when they need it the most…at the time of service. Through a program called Presumptive Eligibility, if you take any uninsured child to a Children's Hospital, Federally Qualified Health Center or Rural Health Clinic, they will be treated immediately and also enrolled in the State Child Health Insurance Program, commonly called SCHIP. Within 30 days, the department will verify to see if the child actually qualifies. If they do, they will remain on the program. If they don't, they will be removed, but they will have already been treated and covered by the program when they were seen. The Partnership for Children estimated that this could cover as many as 120,000 children and also gained recognition from the Kansas City Star.

Property Tax Reform:

Many of the taxpayers in Clay County saw their tax bills increase 20, 30 or even 50% over the last several years through reassessment. What this amounts to is a defacto tax increase, and in some cases windfall revenues for counties without voter approval. We should never be in a position where the government raises your taxes with little to no accountability and in some cases taxing seniors and those on fixed incomes out of their homes. This year we passed a Property Tax Reform bill that will ensure that Clay County can't do that to you in the future. Under the new law, county revenues cannot grow faster than the Consumer Price Index, the most common indicator of inflation. In other words, if inflation is 3%, your tax bill cannot increase more than 3% regardless of assessment. I don't know very many people who get a raise of 30% in a year for doing the same job, so why should your county government? We also fixed a problem here in Clay County with the County Collector refusing to refund you for erroneous penalties and interest. Under the old law, if the county made an error and you were assessed penalties and interest: tough luck. She refused to refund those erroneous charges and instead used them, in part, to fund her own office. Under the new law, if you have been wrongly charged penalties and interest, you can appeal to the County Commission and they will order her to issue a refund if it's a county error.

Illegal Immigration:

Since the Federal Government continues to punt this issue and refuses to pass a comprehensive immigration reform package, we were forced to tackle the issue at the state level. While we cannot keep illegal immigrants from coming into the country, we can do things to discourage them from locating in Missouri - taking our jobs and using our taxpayer funded services. This year we passed an immigration bill that requires proof of citizenship to receive state funded services, punishes the employers who hire them and allows law enforcement to detain those who cannot prove citizenship and turn them over to the federal authorities. Believe it or not, there are some in Jefferson City, and some who want to serve there, that would give in-state tuition for our Universities to illegal immigrants who graduate from high school in Missouri. My opponent is one of them. Why should your hard-earned tax dollars go to subsidize their education when so many Missouri families struggle every year to send their own kids to college? I would never allow that wasteful abuse of your tax dollars to give tuition breaks to those who shouldn't be here in the first place.