Missouri Senate, 20th District: Dan Clemens, Republican

Dan Clemens, Republican

A Webster County farmer for the last 30 years, Clemens is a former Marshfield School Board president.

What is your plan to get the state budget back in line?

"The only way we can get immediate savings in the budget is in waste. I think we're going to do that with long-range planning, zero-based budgeting and accountability. I think there is a lot of waste in a lot of different programs."

On transportation, "In the early 1990s, they took control of MoDOT away from the legislature to make it less political, and it's become even more political. I think the legislature has to take it back that's the only way to get the confidence back with the people."

What is your plan to stimulate Missouri's economy?

"Missouri has lost more jobs than any other state in the last year. We have not been very business friendly, and that has to change. I think that we've depended too much on large companies that have no loyalty to the community. We need more local control. I would like to see a goodly number of locally controlled, community-oriented, grassroots companies, as opposed to a few big ones."

How will you address the rising cost of health insurance and its impact on small businesses?

"There are some companies looking at a plan called direct flexible funding. It puts the funds in the employee's hands, tax-free and lets him choose his own deductible and lets him buy his own insurance. We can save some insurance rates there.

What is your position on workers' compensation reform?

"We sure need it. We've lost many jobs. (Joplin-based) CFI, the 11th largest trucker in the United States, pays $30 million in workman's compensation. If they step across the line into Oklahoma, it goes to $20 million immediately. That and unemployment has got to change. ... For the last 10 years, we have worried about the worker only and we haven't addressed the businessman entrepreneur."

by Eric Olson

SBJ Reporter