Kelley: Introducing The Staff, Contact Information, and Cost of Inaugural Ball

The 96^th General Assembly was sworn into office this Wednesday. A total of 162 members of the House of Representatives and 17 members of the Senate were seated. The House has a total of 163 members, but a representative from Kansas City was not given the oath of office due to still owing fines and penalties for campaign reporting violations.

The partisan makeup of the House is 106 republicans, 56 democrats, and the vacancy in Kansas City. For an historic perspective, when former Representative Bubs Hohulin (R-Lamar) was elected to the House of Representatives, the count was 99 democrats and 64 republicans.

My office in the Capitol is 201E. That is on the 2^nd floor on the side away from the river. It is in a complex with six other offices, so it is quite cozy as it houses 7 legislators, their legislative assistants, and several interns.

Tammy Weber is my legislative assistant and comes to me with several years of legislative experience. This will be helpful as we help constituents with their issues and work on bills and amendments. Taylor Haas, a student at Missouri Southern State University, will be my intern. Taylor is from Carthage, so he is already familiar with this area. Together we are committed to serving the people of the 126^th district.

Constituents may contact my office in a variety of ways. The easiest and most convenient is email. My address is Mike{dot}Kelley{at}house{dot}mo{dot}gov The office phone number is 573-751-2165. The nice thing about that is it has remained unchanged for the last 18 years. If you want to send a letter through the Post Office, it can be addressed to; Mike Kelley, State Capitol, House Post Office, Jefferson City, MO 65101.

Most of the first two days were filled with ceremonial events. Wednesday began with the Governor's Prayer Breakfast and ended with the Grand March and Legislative Ball in the Capitol Rotunda. Past opening days have seen lavish and expensive events to mark the swearing in of legislators. In keeping with our campaign promises of fiscal restraint, only $4800 was spent on this year's Inaugural Ball and it was raised entirely from private donations. No tax dollars were spent. Even the flowers used to decorate the House Chamber during the day were carried downstairs in the evening to be reused in the Rotunda.