“It’s great to be down here in Butler County,” said Missouri Speaker of the House Dean Plocher while visiting the Butler County Courthouse on Monday morning, “You’ve always had great leaders down here.”
State Rep. Hardy Billington and Sen. Jason Bean were also in attendance to speak about the accomplishments of the state legislature at the conclusion of the 2024 session.
Freshman State Rep. Donnie Brown expressed gratitude for the guidance he received from senior legislators this year.
“It’s like drinking from a firehose,” he joked.
While Plocher initially had low hopes for a productive year, he highlighted some key bills and resolutions passed.
“It was a struggle every day,” Bean added, “In a year we didn’t think we would get much done, we got a lot done.”
Legislation such as SB 727 raised teachers’ minimum salaries to $40,000. Additionally, Plocher praised the passing of a balanced budget that was $1.2 billion less overall than last year’s, all while cutting taxes.
The budget includes $60 million in funding for the Highway 67/Interstate 57 project which Bean assured Governor Mike Parson would not veto. Three Rivers College will also receive $10 million for the construction of new dormitories.
Plocher shifted to discussing the border and illegal immigration. Responding to a request by Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, Missouri funded units of its national guard to assist in securing the border.
“Every state is a border state,” Plocher commented.
He confirmed personnel have stopped and detained 400,000 people including five individuals who were on the national security watchlist. Billington decried the 20 deaths from fentanyl overdoses in Butler County last year, a crisis he attributes to porous border security.
As a parallel effort to the National Guard, Plocher described action taken by the legislature this year to ban sanctuary cities, prohibit non-citizens from voting, and outlaw squatting.
He applauded the efforts of lawmakers from Southeast Missouri as instrumental to this year’s success. Plocher speculated Bean would soon become the senate majority floor leader.
“The core people from the Bootheel are phenomenal,” he affirmed.
Confident in the results of 2024’s legislative session, Plocher expressed excitement over the possibilities next year will bring.