Republicans have supermajorities in both legislative chambers in Jefferson City. They control the Missouri Senate 24-10 and have a 111-51 supermajority in the Missouri House. Missouri Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee chairman Andrew Koenig (R-Manchester) joined us live this morning on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”. Senator Koenig confirms there’s a lot of infighting in the GOP ranks in Jefferson City, saying it will make it harder to get things done. But he’s optimistic about education, touting school choice and his bill expanding the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) program. Senator Koenig’s Senate Bill 727 increases the amount of tax credits that can be allocated in any year from $50 million to $75-million. Chairman Koenig also touts what he calls school choice, and rejects criticism from Democrats that it defunds public education. Senator Koenig tells listeners that school choice is positive for Missouri’s public schools:
(LISTEN): Veteran Missouri lawmaker says I-44 should be six-laned before I-70
A powerful Missouri state lawmaker describes the $2.8 billion plan to rebuild and expand I-70 to six lanes across the state as the biggest boondoggle in Missouri history.
House Transportation Accountability chairman Don Mayhew (R-Crocker) joined us live on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri” to explain why he’s filed a one-page bill to change the name of I-70 in Missouri to I-44 and the name of I-44 in Missouri to I-70.
“I can’t find a single, going through MoDOT’s studies and reports and everything going back a few years, I can’t find a single engineering reason why you would choose I-70 for three-laning in each direction instead of, let’s say, I-44,” Mayhew says.
Mayhew tells listeners that I-44 in his district should be six-laned. Representative Mayhew, a former MoDOT engineer, says I-44 in his district and across the state has much more truck traffic than I-70.
“If you just look at freight tonnage alone, MoDOT’s own studies said that there’s about nine times the freight tonnage that travels on I-44. And in fact there’s four routes in Missouri that carry more freight tonnage that I-70 does,” says Mayhew.
You can listen to the full interview with Chairman Mayhew here, and you can also weigh in on the issue on the 939 the Eagle Facebook page.
(LISTEN): Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives vice president Mike Sutherland discusses power outages on “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”
Linemen and linewomen from Columbia-based Boone Electric Cooperative are in northern Missouri’s Macon County this morning, working to restore power to more about 1,200 residents. About 2,700 Macon Electric Cooperative members in nine counties are without power due to the winter storm and strong winds. Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives vice president Mike Sutherland joined us live on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”, telling listeners that the wet, heavy snow and strong winds caused the outages. One listener from just south of Macon says he’s been without power for 20 hours. Mr. Sutherland tells listeners that he’s optimistic power will be restored as quickly as possible. Crews are working in very difficult conditions: heavy snow, in some ice and in subfreezing temperatures:
(LISTEN): Jefferson City Police Chief Eric Wilde discusses swatting incident on “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”
Jefferson City Police Chief Eric Wilde says the investigation continues into Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s home being swatted Sunday night. Chief Wilde joined us live on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”, telling listeners that they have reason to believe this wasn’t an isolated incident in Jefferson City, adding several similar incidents have happened nationwide. Chief Wilde tells listeners that while he can’t provide many details, all of the calls that come into the Jefferson City Police Department are recorded. But he notes sometimes people use virtual routers to make the calls. Chief Wilde tells listeners that there will be a lot of subpoenas to issue in the coming days to try to solve the case. He also believes Secretary Ashcroft is the first statewide elected official to be swatted in Jefferson City:
(LISTEN): Missouri House Transportation Accountability committee chairman Rep. Don Mayhew (R-Crocker) discusses I-70 name change bill on “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”
Missouri Governor Mike Parson (R) signed legislation into law in August that provides $2.8 billion to rebuild and expand I-70 to six lanes across Missouri, from St. Louis to Kansas City. The governor signed the bipartisan bill at Moberly Area Community College’s parking lot in Columbia, near I-70. A key state lawmaker doesn’t like that project. Missouri House Transportation Accountability Committee chair Don Mayhew (R-Crocker) describes the $2.8 billion I-70 plan as the biggest boondoggle in Missouri history. He’s filed a one-page bill that changes the name of I-70 in Missouri to I-44 and the name of I-44 in Missouri to I-70. Chairman Mayhew joined us live on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”, telling listeners that I-44 in his district should be six-laned. Mayhew, a former MoDOT engineer, says he can’t find a single MoDOT engineering reason describing why I-70 should be six lanes. He also tells listeners that I-44 has nine times more freight tonnage than I-70. Chairman Mayhew jokes it must be the name, so hence the bill. He’s trying to send a message:
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