Poplar Bluff, Missouri - Congressman Jason Smith (MO-08) will hold a public forum about the government shutdown at Jen’s Diner on Thursday.

 

Congressman Smith will provide an update on the ongoing negotiations over border security and then he will lead a public discussion with folks in attendance about what they’d like to see in a deal to secure the border and reopen the government.

 

Congressman Smith meets regularly with the White House and is holding this public discussion so he can relay the thoughts and ideas directly from southeast Missourians to President Trump. He often holds public listening posts and forums across southern Missouri on such topics as regulatory relief, healthcare transparency and pricing, and middle class tax relief. These events are of particular importance to Congressman Smith so he can share feedback from Missourians directly with the White House. 

 

WHO:           U.S. Congressman Jason Smith                        

 

WHAT:         Public discussion about the government shutdown and border security

 

WHEN:         Thursday, December 27th, 2018

                       12:45 p.m. CT

 

WHERE:      Jen’s Diner

                       3933 S Westwood Blvd

                       Poplar Bluff, MO 63901

 

Starting something new can be challenging and intimidating, but when it’s a small business the stakes are high with your entire livelihood on the line. With this Saturday being Small Business Saturday and November being National Entrepreneurship Month, I want to take the opportunity to celebrate these job creators. The entrepreneurs who take the risk to start a business or a farm, armed only with fresh ideas and hard work, drive the economy and embody the best of the American spirit.

 

When most people think of “small businesses,” they probably think of local mom and pop shops, but small businesses make up 99 percent of businesses in the U.S. They employ half of the country’s workforce and create seven out of ten new jobs in America. In Missouri where our economy is driven by agriculture, 90 percent of farms are small businesses. That’s why it’s vital to have a government that supports business, instead of making it harder to live the American dream. Every time I meet with small business and farm owners across southern Missouri, they tell me what they want the most is the government to interfere as little as possible and let them do what they do best.

 

That’s why I’ve made it a mission to rein in the unelected bureaucrats in Washington who have never stepped foot on a farm in Missouri or never had to run their own business. Because left unchecked, Washington’s career bureaucrats will pile on burdensome rules for job creators and producers, not realizing that every piece of red tape impacts bottom lines and makes it harder to do business in America.

 

In President Obama’s last year in office, his administration added roughly 17,000 pages of rules and regulations to the federal register, dragging the economy down by billions of dollars on his way out. Larger firms and farms with teams of attorneys and accountants have an easier time keeping up with the red tape, but small businesses and local farm owners don’t have the time or the resources that Uncle Sam demands. Thankfully we now have a pro-business President in office, and we have repealed over a thousand of the most burdensome regulations. This has saved $23 billion in economic costs in the last year alone and contributed to small businesses being more optimistic about their future than ever before.

 

But regulations are just one example of how our country was becoming increasingly hostile to job creators before President Trump took office. The U.S. had the highest business tax rate in the world, which punished anyone who wanted to do business in America and encouraged investors and entrepreneurs to take their jobs to other countries. President Trump and I are working hard to change the anti-business culture in Washington so our economy and our country can grow, and last year we took a landmark step with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which I co-authored. We lowered tax rates for small businesses and farms of all sizes, allowed businesses to fully expense internal investments, and rewrote the tax code so fewer family farms are subject to the death tax.

 

All of this has made the United States open for business and competitive again on the world stage. Since President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law, the economy has boomed and hiring has surged. More than two million jobs have been created in the U.S., and for the first time in over two decades there are more jobs in America than people searching for work.

 

Starting and running a business or a farm is hard work already before the government gets involved, but these entrepreneurs who risk everything to turn their dream into reality truly make America special. I’m proud to work with President Trump to cut red tape and remove the extra weight from Washington, so small business and the American dream can stay healthy and thriving.

This Sunday, November 11th is the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, which marks the official end of World War I. Today we call the anniversary celebration Veterans’ Day, but the meaning is the same – a day where our country expresses its sincere gratitude for everything our nation’s veterans have done to defend us at home and protect our way of life.

 

Every veteran has sacrificed for you and me in one way or another. It’s not just the physical sacrifice they endure in a grueling bootcamp, a tour of duty, or the wounds of war. The men and women who serve choose to give up priceless years of their lives for our country. It’s the irreplaceable birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and family time they will never get back, all in the name of protecting the United States. They put their entire lives on hold to serve and leave their careers, family, and friends at home knowing there’s a chance they may never return again.

 

Just as our veterans answered the call of duty to serve our nation, the duty is ours to support our veterans when their service ends. Almost every veteran I speak to has a story of how they were frustrated with the Department of Veterans Affairs at one point or another. Some of the frustration was with the arbitrary 30-day and 40-mile distance requirements to seek care outside the VA, and that’s why President Trump and I overhauled the VA system to make it easier for veterans to receive timely care outside the VA. Unfortunately like every government bureaucracy, in the past bad actors were able to hide behind government rules to stay employed at the VA. I was proud to be part of the team that sent a bill to President Trump that allows his administration to say “you’re fired” to anyone who mistreated or neglected our veterans and didn’t give them the care they deserve.

 

Any veteran or their family that needs help should look to my office as a resource. We assist veterans with the Department of Veterans Affairs, help families track down military records, and have made sure veterans in Missouri received medals that were supposed to be given to them long ago. Thanks to the 5,700 veterans who contacted my office, we successfully petitioned the Salem VA Clinic to expand their hours and the services they offer.

 

I’m proud that southern Missouri is a welcoming and supportive place where the 55,300 veterans who live here receive the respect and appreciation they deserve. In Cape Girardeau, the VFW creates the Avenue of Flags with an American flag for every veteran in the county who served our country. This year Perryville completed a full-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, and Piedmont hosted life-size replicas of Washington’s veterans memorials so that the people of Missouri don’t have to travel to D.C. to pay their respects. Local schools and businesses are showing their appreciation this weekend by offering free meals and ceremonies for veterans to honor their service. Southern Missouri’s kindness to veterans can be seen in the numerous cities that have proclaimed themselves “Purple Heart Cities,” and Poplar Bluff recently was honored as the first rural “Veteran Friendly Community” in Missouri, a distinction awarded by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

 

Whether it’s at one of the parades, concerts, or events across southern Missouri, there are numerous ways to show your respect and pay tribute to veterans this weekend, and some creative ideas you may not have thought of. Hunters who take down a deer when hunting season starts this weekend can donate deer hides to the Elks Club in West Plains to be made into buckskin gloves for veterans in wheelchairs. President Trump’s administration is waiving the fee for all public lands this Sunday, including the Ozarks National Scenic Riverways, because more than a third of America’s national parks are battlefields, cemeteries, and sites that honor military veterans. And this week is also National Veteran’s Small Business Week, which encourages another method of supporting our veterans at home: by giving patronage to veteran-owned businesses.

 

I’m humbled and inspired by all of the sacrifices our veterans make to protect our way of life at home. Adjustment back to civilian life is never seamless for those who serve, and the duty is ours to support them for everything they have given us. We’re blessed to live in the freest country that has ever existed on the face of the earth, and for that we should all thank a veteran.

Missouri voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition B to raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by the year 2023.

Proposition B will increase the state’s minimum wage from $7.85 to $8.60 an hour in 2019, and then by 85 cents each year until it reaches $12 an hour in 2023.

"According to an analysis conducted the Economic Policy Institute, Proposition B will result in an increase of more than $1 billion in consumer buying power in Missouri by the time it is fully phased in, affecting over 670,000 workers."

 

A huge majority of Missourians voted Tuesday to clean up state politics by passing Amendment 1 to ban expensive lobbyist gifts, limit big money, require transparent records, and end gerrymandering. 

 

“We are thrilled that Republicans, Democrats, and independents came together to clean up Missouri politics,” said Nimrod “Rod” Chapel, Jr, President of the NAACP Missouri State Chapter and Treasurer of Clean Missouri. "Thousands of Missourians from across the state came together to put Amendment 1 on the ballot, and then thousands more joined the fight to pass Amendment 1. It's truly a great day for Missouri." 

  

+eliminate all lobbyist gifts in the General Assembly worth more than $5

+require that legislative meetings and records be open to the public

+ensure that neither political party is given an unfair advantage when new maps are drawn after the next census, while keeping districts compact and contiguous, following city and county lines

+when possible, and strengthening protections for minority representation

+lower campaign contribution limits for state legislative candidates and close some big money loopholes

+stop politicians from becoming lobbyists for 2 years after leaving the legislature

Provisions will take effect upon official certification of the results. The redistricting reform, requiring more fair and competitive maps, will be in effect when state legislative maps are next drawn, after the 2020 census.  U.S. law requires new maps to be drawn after each census.