Memorial Day
Many of us take for granted our freedom. We go about our lives with the assumption that our rights and place in the world are certain. And they arguably are thanks to the people in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice. So, we began this week by continuing that age-old, revered tradition of reserving a full day to pay tribute to the men and women who have given their lives during their service for the preservation of our freedoms.
As we can surely continue to find ways to make our country and world better, let us not forget the courage and faith of our fallen ones. Their heroic sacrifices have enabled us to emanate to others the values and freedoms they so selflessly defended.
Labor Reform
On Tuesday, the governor signed into law Senate Bill 182, which will end the discriminatory and unfair practices of project labor agreements (PLAs). I have been a vehement advocate for using taxpayer dollars more efficiently and fairly. With PLAs, the costs for public projects are unnecessarily high. One reason is because these types of agreements effectively exclude nonunion contractors. With PLAs, money is taken out of the pockets of workers to cover increasing union dues and fees and taxpayers are not getting the best quality for the lowest cost.
But more fundamentally, SB 182 reflects Republicans’ commitment to competition and equal opportunity. The action the governor took this week further changes the outdated practice of choosing special interests over the common, hardworking Missouri employee. This is nothing new. During the 2017 legislative session, I proposed, and the governor signed into law, Senate Bill 19. This law will help return power back to the worker by prohibiting that employment be conditional on a worker joining a union or paying union fees.
We have too many laws and regulations on the books, particularly those that favor special interests at the expense of everyday Missourians. We have gradually seen labor organizations get a tighter grip on citizens’ employment decisions. Moreover, we have various regulations throughout the state that effectively require high construction prices at the expense of rural and poor communities. (This past session, I proposed Senate Bill 20 to lessen the heavy taxpayer burden we put on our communities.)
But with significant labor reform progress during the 2017 session and more collaboration and agreement between our branches of government, I am optimistic that the Show-Me State will foster a more welcoming business climate and, more importantly, protect the interests and rights of all of communities and hardworking taxpayers. I strongly believe it is not the job of the state to pick winners and losers, and as I continue to represent you in the Missouri Senate, I will wholeheartedly serve with that belief.
As always, I encourage my constituents to contact me throughout the year with comments, questions or suggestions by calling my office at (573) 751-5713. To find more information about the bills I sponsored, visit www.senate.mo.gov/brown. Thank you for reading this and for your participation in state government.