93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
The governor says southern Missouri Congressman Jason Smith’s appointment to chair the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee is huge for Missouri. That’s the House’s primary tax-writing committee.
Governor Mike Parson (R) met recently with the Salem Republican at the Statehouse in Jefferson City.
“I can’t even tell you how big that is. That’s one of the most powerful committees in Washington D.C. And when you put that combination and him and (Congressman) Sam Graves being over the Transportation chair … I mean those two things are huge for us,” Parson tells 939 the Eagle News.
Governor Parson and Congressman Smith discussed their priorities for workforce development and infrastructure, including work on heavily-traveled I-70 and I-44. Parson and Smith served together in the Missouri House.
The governor says chairing the Ways and Means committee in many ways is the second most powerful position in the House.
“So I’m kind of excited about that. We should be able to take advantage of that. But, Jason Smith being in the most powerful position outside of the Speaker of the House up there is huge for the state of Missouri. And he’s just a great guy. We’re going to expect a lot of things out of him and we’re going to be twisting their arms all the time like people twist mine and see what we can get out of them,” says Parson.
The governor also notes U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-Tarkio) chairs the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Chairman Graves is focusing on making sure that Missouri is getting its fair share of infrastructure funding.
