Capitol Report--General Assembly comes to an end
by Chuck Gatschenberger
May 16, 2009
Jefferson City, MO
Friday at 6:00 p.m. the gavel fell a final time on the 1st Regular Session of the 95th Missouri General Assembly. This marks my first complete session in the Missouri House of Representatives and I am thankful to serve each one of you in the Missouri House.
My first session has seen its ups and downs. Looking around, I noticed how blessed I am to be serving my constituents in a body of 162 of my colleagues who are doing the same. I am thankful to have served as the Vice-Chairman of the Administration and Accounts committee, which oversees all the policy and spending done by the House of Representatives, as an entity. As a former administrator at UMSL, I was able to sit on the Higher Education committee, and relay valuable information from my experience at the University to the committee members.
As we moved past the committee hearing stage, to the stage of more bill debate, I was able to voice my experiences on many good pieces of legislation. For instance, we passed a bill in the House this year that requires boat slips to be marked by a letter or number. This is in case an accident happens on the Lake of the Ozarks and on the other large lakes, someone who is not familiar with the area, would be able to direct emergency officials to the exact location of an incident.
I have been on the lake during what could have been a life threatening injury. I was the person who tried to give as best directions as I could to help expedite emergency officials to the location. This bill, I felt, was very important and a great idea and I was able to communicate my story to the body.
I have witnessed a lot this session that will help me to advance other pieces of legislation next year. During the interim, I will be looking for your input for upcoming legislation and concerns and I look forward to holding town hall meetings, forums for new road projects, and meeting with you as I walk to each of your houses with my District Directory.
This summer, I have decided to save your tax dollars on the postage cost of sending out my directory to the 23,000 households which I represent. Therefore, I will be walking to each subdivision and hand delivering your District Directory. THIS WILL NOT BE A CAMPAIGN GREETING. I will be there as the State Representative handing out official state documents.
I hope that I can continue to be a voice in the State Capitol that you can trust and confide.
As always, please let me know your thoughts about these or other matters of concern by calling my office at 573-751-3572 or by e-mailing me at chuck.gatschenberger@house.mo.gov.
Copyright 2009 Neighbors About Town
