Speaker-elect spells out agenda

The soon-to-be speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives made the rounds through southwest Missouri Dec. 29 spelling out his priorities for the coming session.

Rep. Ron Richard, R-Joplin, who is expected to be elected as the new speaker when the General Assembly convenes Jan. 9, presented an outline of his legislative agenda to business and community leaders in Branson and Springfield.

He said the top priority is the economy - specifically, creating jobs. The fastest path to job creation, he added, is offering attractive incentives to businesses for relocation and expansion. He pointed to the Quality Jobs Act and the Enhanced Enterprise Zone program as examples.

"We're in a global economy, and we have to make Missouri accessible and attractive in a global economy," Richard said during his Springfield presentation at University Plaza.

"We do that by making sure we have good incentive packages like Quality Jobs that link Missouri with other businesses."

Show-Me jobs

Among his ideas: increased funding for training programs to retrain people who have recently been laid off.

Richard offered Budweiser in St. Louis as an example: The St. Louis business icon, now owned by Belgian brewer InBev, cut more than 1,000 jobs in December from its headquarters. Richard said many of those employees are now in line to be retrained and join one of St. Louis' biggest employers, agricultural science developer Monsanto, as part of a $1 billion expansion that company is undertaking.

He also noted that the region has to be ready if President-elect Barack Obama's administration decides to "print more money" - referring to Obama's proposal to invest new money into public infrastructure projects nationwide in hopes of stimulating job growth.

Richard has experience in the job creation realm; he has worked on the House Job Creation and Economic Development Committee since joining the Assembly in 2003, serving three years as chairman.

Missouri Chamber of Commerce & Industry CEO Dan Mehan, who accompanied Richard on the southwest Missouri tour, said Richard's record on economic issues speaks for itself.

"This man is a leader when it comes to job creation - it's his favorite topic," Mehan said. "Although it's a rough time right now, Missouri is positioned in a very good place for the recovery that is going to come - we just don't know exactly when. That's in a lot of ways due to what Ron and his colleagues have done."

Concern about jobs drew a few businesspeople to the Springfield meet-and-greet.

"Job creation ... is of supreme importance to all of us, because if people are working, then business is good," said Springfield attorney and residential developer Joe Carmichael. "That seems to be what (Richard) was saying the most about, and he struck a chord with everyone here."

Bridging gaps

Richard, who is entering his fourth term in the state House, said partisan politics will only get in the way of the progress the state needs. He noted that he already has met with Democratic Gov.-elect Jay Nixon to discuss economic issues, adding that the two are in agreement on all the major economic issues.

"The message sent by the people electing a (Democratic) governor and expanding the (Republican) majority in the legislature is that the people want two parties to come together, reach a consensus and lead the state," Richard said.

That nonpartisan attitude was especially refreshing to Bob Noble, CEO of Noble Communications.

"I love his approach about nonpartisan politics - we have to reinvent to get through this time, and we can't do it through partisan politics," Noble said. "We can't get into factions or narratives that aren't productive for the whole."

Richard also said reaching across geographic boundaries is crucial - and not always something at which Missourians have excelled.

"If it's good for Springfield, it's good for Joplin, (and) if it's good for Springfield, it's good for St. Louis," Richard said. "The rest of the state is beginning to figure that out."