The General Assembly convened this week for special session as called by the governor.
On Friday, the Senate passed House Bill 1 to facilitate approximately 500 jobs in Missouri's Bootheel, a region in desperate need of jobs and opportunity. HB1 allows the Public Service Commission to consider lower rates and longer contracts for huge consumers of electricity looking to locate to Missouri. While I know there were concerns about a potential "rate-shift to other users" the Public Service Commission testified at a Commerce Committee Hearing this week that they do not foresee this to be a cost-shift to consumers. As a state, and as a nation, we would not have the opportunity to have the free and fair discussions surrounding HB1 if not for the men and women who have fought, and often died, to defend freedom and our country.
Each Memorial Day I endeavor to find words to express the enormity and the significance of the occasion, and each Memorial Day I fall woefully short of doing so. I cannot adequately express enough gratitude and sympathy to those families who have lost loved ones while protecting my freedom, and I cannot adequately articulate the significance and importance of loved ones who have died.
James A. Garfield once said, "We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue."
On this Memorial Day, Claudia and I wish you a safe and enjoyable time with family and friends. I hope you enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation but remind you to also take the time to remember those who have died and those they leave behind.
State Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, represents the 6th District, and shares his perspective on statehouse issues each week.