Kansas City Police and firefighters say 22 people were shot in this afternoon’s mass shooting west of Union Station, as the Chiefs victory rally ended. One person was killed. State Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia) was inside Union Station when the deadly shooting happened. He had been attending the rally with his daughter. He joined us live during special coverage this afternoon on 939 the Eagle, telling listeners that he thought he heard a gunshot. Representative Tyson Smith says there was a lot of confusion as everyone started screaming and ducking and running outside Union Station. He praises Kansas City Police officers and other law enforcement who ran inside, saying they ran toward danger and showed no hesitation:
(LISTEN): Former State Sen. Bob Onder (R-Lake St. Louis) running for Missouri’s third congressional district seat
Former State Sen. and outspoken conservative Bob Onder (R-Lake St. Louis) has announced that he’s seeking the GOP nomination for Missouri’s third congressional district seat in August. Incumbent seven-term U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-St. Elizabeth) is not seeking re-election. The sprawling district includes Columbia south of Broadway, Ashland, Jefferson City, Fulton, Holts Summit, Boonville, California, New Florence, Linn, Warrenton and also St. Charles County. Former Senator Onder describes St. Charles County, his home county, as a solid conservative county. Senator Onder joined us live on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”, telling listeners that he has 70 percent name ID in St. Charles County and 46 percent name ID districtwide. Former Senator Onder says he’s switched from the lieutenant governor’s race to the congressional race because the nation is in a crisis of Washington’s making. Onder says liberal Democrats and what he calls “weak Republicans” are not listening to voters. He says he can win the race. State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold) is also seeking the GOP nomination in the race:
(LISTEN): Missouri Congressman Graves says $93-million in extra money for I-70 will also help I-44
The dean of Missouri’s congressional delegation who’s the powerful U.S. House Transportation Committee chair has helped Missouri land $93-million in additional funds to be put toward I-70.
Construction will start this summer between Columbia and Kingdom City on Missouri’s $2.8 billion plan to rebuild aging I-70 and expand it to six lanes between St. Louis and Kansas City. Governor Mike Parson announced the $90-million-plus in funding during his January 24 State of the State address. U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (Tarkio), who chairs Transportation, describes the additional money as huge.
“And it’s going to go to three segments on I-70. With the improvements that I-70 is going to be doing as a result of the work that the governor did and as a result of the work that the (state) Legislature did when it comes to getting more money into highway projects,” Graves says.
The $93-million will also free up money to go to other projects. Congressman Graves says it will also help heavily-traveled I-44. Governor Parson wants to use the additional money to establish the I-44 improvement fund. Chairman Graves, whose district includes mid-Missouri’s Moberly and Mexico, explains how that will work.
“And so what that does is it does allow for money that would have been used on those particular segments of I-70 (across Missouri) to now being moved over to I-44, the state dollars that were going to be used. So it does supplant a lot of those dollars and it’s just going to make the whole process that much better and get that much more done,” says Graves.
While some GOP members of Congress have criticized U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Chairman Graves praises the Secretary’s accessibility.
“You know the Secretary has been very open to talk to and easy to find. If I need to talk to him about anything, I just call his cell phone,” Congressman Graves says.
Graves says he’s spoken to the Secretary about the $93-million in additional funding that Missouri has received.
Congressman Graves also tells 939 the Eagle that we’ll see a lot of transportation improvements due to actions in the past few years from Governor Parson and from state lawmakers.
(LISTEN): Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) discusses 2024 session on “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”
Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) expresses frustration with the Senate Freedom Caucus, saying they “bloviated” on the Senate floor before essentially taking a deal he offered them two weeks ago. Pro Tem Rowden joined us live on 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri”, telling listeners that he made it clear all along that initiative petition reform would be taken up quickly, once gubernatorial appointments were made. Pro Tem Rowden tells listeners that initiative petition reform and what he describes as education reform may come up next week. Republicans have a 24-10 supermajority in the Missouri Senate. Senator Rowden says he has a good working relationship with Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo (D-Independence). He says Leader Rizzo represents a red district, while Rowden represents a blue district. He expects more partisan debate later this session:
(LISTEN): Economic growth and state employee pay were two key elements of Missouri governor’s address
Missouri’s governor says his administration will leave a record $1.5 billion on the bottom line for the next administration.
While GOP Governor Mike Parson outlined his budget and 2024 legislative priorities during Wednesday’s State of the State address, he also touted his administration’s successes over the last five-and-a-half years. Governor Parson tells lawmakers that state revenues have increased 40 percent since 2018, with significant growth coming from sales revenue.
“And one of the huge factors is the three separate tax cuts we approved, including the largest in our state’s history. We have decreased Missourians’ tax burdens by over 20 percent. Unleashing an economic powerhouse in the state of Missouri,” Governor Parson tells lawmakers.
Governor Parson says that when he took office in 2018, Missouri was ranked 42nd for GDP growth and last among Midwest neighbors. He says that Missouri now ranks 23rd in the nation and in the Midwest’s top five for GDP growth.
Meantime, Governor Parson says his administration has raised state employee pay by more than 20 percent since he took office in 2018. Missouri’s 47,000 state employees received an 8.7 percent pay raise last February, under a bipartisan plan proposed by GOP Governor Mike Parson. The governor is proposing another state employee pay increase in this year’s budget.
“And let me just say … the investment in our state employees have been worth every penny (audience applause). “And that’s why this year we are proposing an additional 3.2 percent cost of living increase for all of our state employees,” says Governor Parson.
State Rep. Adrian Plank (D-Columbia) was one of the first lawmakers to stand up and applaud that line. Representative Plank represents numerous state employees in his Boone County district.
Governor Parson is also calling on state lawmakers to again fully fund the K-12 education foundation formula with an additional $120-million over last year’s levels. The governor is proposing $52-billion budget also includes funding to increase teacher baseline pay to $40,000.
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