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House committee hears wide variety of ideas for downsizing state government

Andrew Nichols
/
KBIA

Missouri’s House Committee for Downsizing State Government has finished holding a series of public hearings across the state for citizens to share their ideas on how to cut down on state government spending.  

The committee began the hearings Tuesday in St. Louis, and finished up Thursday at the Capitol.  Besides lower-than-expected turnout in Joplin, Republican Representative Paul Curtman, the committee’s chairman, says citizens across the state turned out to express concerns and ideas about reducing the size of state government.

“Some people, their concern is that there’s a lot of redundancies in our bureaucracies and that we’re using twice as much money to pay for a job to be done just one time,” Curtman said.

Curtman says many people at the hearings spoke in support of an override of Governor Nixon’s veto on House Bill 253.   That bill would cut tax rates for many Missourians, including the personal income tax rate.  Alex Curchin with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry suggested an override at Thursday’s hearing in Jefferson City.

“House Bill 253 will place money back into the pockets of Missourians and that translates to Missourians making the election on where their hard-earned dollars are spent, ”

Other topics discussed included decriminalizing use of marijuana and ensuring that government workers spend their time actually working while on the job.  Curtman says he hopes to have a rough list of recommendations for his committee to work on as soon as next week.