I hope you all have had a wonderful week and that you are enjoying the rise in temperature. This past week, we heard from the governor in his State of the State Address and looked back over the great work that has been accomplished for Missourians.
It was an honor in my last session as a Missouri State Senator to be a member of the Escort Committee that escorts the governor into the Missouri House of Representatives Chamber for the State of the State. In his final such speech, the governor laid out an ambitious legislative agenda to benefit infrastructure, education, and early childhood education. I look forward to working with him to achieve these measures.
During my time in the Senate, together with the governor and the House of Representatives, the state has significantly invested in our infrastructure. Over the past four years in Missouri we have completed the Governor’s Focus on Bridges program to rebuild our most dilapidated bridges, made historic investment in Missouri’s rural routes and continued to invest in rural broadband to make broadband affordable and accessible to everyone — no matter your ZIP code.
As a former educator, I’ve always fought to make sure our schools are the best in the nation, and we’ve made historic investments on that front. During my time as your state senator we’ve fully funded the education formula and for the first time in decades we fully funded school transportation. We’ve also set aside significant resources for schools in rural communities, supported youth apprenticeships throughout the state and provided funds for our schools to increase teacher salary.
Another important concern I’m proud to have worked with the governor to address is the childcare crisis plaguing the state of Missouri. Lack of access to childcare and early childhood education is listed by workers and businesses as the number one reason for keeping people out of the workforce. Last year we invested $52 million to our public schools to offer early childhood education, and are working with the governor to pass legislation that would expand childcare opportunities across our state.
I will continue to represent you as the Senate makes headway toward legislation that will help you in your daily lives. Remember, my office doors are always open to any of my constituents. If you find yourself in Jefferson City go ahead and drop on by. My offices are located in room 320.
