NEOSHO, Mo. — Area lawmakers were on a local college campus Tuesday to give residents an overview of what did and didn’t happen this legislative session.
Issues that dominated the Missouri legislative session which wrapped up last week, included drawing up with a Congressional redistricting map, which must be done once each decade, as well as passing the largest balanced budget in the history of the Show-Me State.
Newton County Representative Ben Baker says he’ll continue efforts to call for an educational Parents’ Bill of Rights.
“Putting into our statute, in a clear way with a language to say parents should have access to see what is being taught to their child, you know, to be able to access to curriculum, being able to know who is teaching their child, and just kind of outlining those things in our statute,” said Representative Baker.
Dirk Deaton says he’ll keep trying to push for Initiative Petition Reform, which he feels is too easy to accomplish.
“We’ve seen in recent years outside, often times Leftist groups, come in and pour millions of dollars into Missouri, get things on the ballot, and I think really to mislead voters, get things inserted into the Missouri Constitution, like healthcare, like marijuana, like bingo being inserted into our state Constitution and I don’t think it’s appropriate” said Representative Dirk Deaton, District 159, Newton & McDonald Counties.
“I’m always focused on workforce, trying to find innovative ways to meet the challenges that we face right now,” added Representative Baker.
Lawmakers have the option of introducing legislation during the session, which starts in early January of 2023, or prefiling it a few weeks prior.