Nance: Legislative Priorities, By The Numbers, In The District

The House will be on Spring Break until March 15^th.  When we return to session, we will be working on the State Budget for 2011.  Due to revenue shortfalls, this will be an extreme challenge.  Governor Nixon's proposed budget includes $300 million in federal money that is not guaranteed.  In addition, predicting state revenue for the upcoming year is not going to be an easy task for the budget committee.  Our next priority is job creation.  Several jobs bills are being considered by both the House and the Senate and I will keep you updated.

For the first two months of the session, two major accomplishments were passing an autism bill [HB1311] and stopping the state from drastically increasing taxes on our farmers [SCR35]. According to House Communications; Director, Trevor Fox, following is where we stand with bills filed:

By the numbers:

# House Bills Filed	1,095
# of HBs Referred to Committee	393
# HBs Reported Do Pass	57
# HBs Reported Do Pass Consent	31
# HBs Perfected	13
# HBs Third Read	10
# HBs Reported Do Pass in the Senate	2

In the District

At right: Rep. Nance participates in Read Across America

Last Monday, I was a guest reader for "Read Across America" at Dear Elementary. Both classes were told of our founding fathers Ben, John, George, Paul and Tom. They enjoyed the quips of Ben Franklin the most.

On Friday, I attended the Chamber before Hours in Richmond before visiting the Ray County Commissioners.

On Saturday, Lawson Masonic Lodge hosted MoCHIP and signed up many local kids to the ID program.

Ideal Industries held their annual chili luncheon at noon and I was honored to be a server with over 20 other volunteers.

The Excelsior Optimist Club, of which I am President this year, held their annual benefit auction at Gary Ryther's North Country Community Center in Lawson. Special guests included Larry Moore (Channel 9) as an auctioneer and Don Harmon (Channel 4) as the emcee.

On Sunday, South Point Cemetery Association raised funds for the care of the cemetery at the Lion's Club in Orrick.

The Optimist Oratorical contest was held Sunday under the leadership of Norma Geiss. Winners were:
First Place - Gabriella Hernandez
Second Place - Hadley Creed
Third Place - Hope Mohr
Runner up - Ashley Harness

I also attended the Country Music Show at the Farris Theatre. David and Bonnie Allen planned the event to raise funds for the Henrietta Baptist Church missionary trip to Mexico this year. David certainly brought in some great entertainment.

Coming Friday will be the season opener for the "Second Friday Art Crawl" in downtown Excelsior Springs.

Richmond's Education Foundation is having a benefit auction Friday at the high school.

On Monday Tom Waters and I attended a Sam Graves event to discuss farming issues at the state and federal level.

Personal Note:

By the time you read this, I hopefully will be recuperating from a minor surgery. I will, however, be available for any questions or concerns you may have during the break.