(LISTEN): Missouri House Budget Committee vice chairman Davidson appears on "Wake Up Missouri"

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe (R) has proposed an approximately $53-billion state operating budget. The House Budget Committee met this morning to discuss the proposed budget. Committee vice chairman Bishop Davidson (R-Republic) joined us live on 939 the Eagle's "Wake Up Missouri" this morning. He notes because there was a new governor this year, the State of the State was delivered later than normal this year (January 28). He has no issue with that and says it's to be expected. Vice chairman Davidson also addressed the budget surplus, saying the House position has been to spend down the surplus in a responsible manner that doesn't create recurring expenses. He prefers items like one-time expenses or grants. We also discussed the committee's leadership, which is dominated by southwest Missourians. The committee chairman is State Rep. Dirk Deaton (R-Noel), and Rep. Davidson is vice chair. He's from Republic and represents Greene County. The committee's ranking Democrat is Rep. Betsy Fogle (D-Springfield). While he won't discuss specifics about projects, Vice chairman Davidson tells listeners that he's met with ranking Democrat Fogle and that they hope to work together when they can, particularly on issues involving southwest Missouri. We also discussed the popular Springfield-Branson National Airport, which is in Davidson's House district. Our Zimmer sister station KWTO in Springfield reports 2024 was a banner year for the airport, with a total of about 1.4-million passengers. That's up ten percent from last year. Vice chairman Davidson is ecstatic about it: