Missouri Gov. Mike Parson made his way to Kirksville Tuesday afternoon to get a look at the city's progress with the ongoing North Baltimore Street turn lane project.

The governor is in the middle of touring rural infrastructure projects across the state. The addition of a new center turn lane to North Baltimore Street is part of a cost sharing program that the governor is excited to move forward with.

"I think there's a lot of things. We made record investments in our infrastructure projects this year, especially our cost shares when it comes to water, sewer, clean water, all the way to our highway systems, all the way to our broadband, so we want communities like Kirksville and surrounding areas to be able to utilize that money just like we would anywhere else. Regardless of whether Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia, or Springfield, we want to make sure Kirksville gets their fair share, and that's why we put some of these programs together."

Conversation with Governor Parson ultimately circled around to a very familiar topic.

Over the weekend the U.S. Senate passed a bill to help address the one word that has been associated with the Biden presidency thus far, inflation.

While the Inflation Reduction Act looks to lower the prices of things like gas and basic living necessities, Gov. Parson is not a fan of spending more money.

"We just got to be smart about moving forward, but adding more money into an inflation environment is never a good policy, and it's unfortunate that they passed such a legislation at the time that it is now, when gas prices are high, grocery prices are high, and just the cost of living is going up. So, to add to that, in my opinion, the timing is definitely wrong, and it's a mistake to be able to do that."

This bill, which also includes the largest financial commitment toward the climate in United States history, is expected to pass in the U.S. House later this week.