Kraus to Head Senate Ways & Means, Justus to Lead Senate’s Progess Panel January 11, 2013

Lee’s Summit Republican State Senator Will Kraus has been named the Chairman of the Senate Ways and means Committee. The panel is a key position for Missouri budget negotiations.
“ I look forward to working with the members of the committee to find a comprehensive tax policy solution the entire Senate can support.” Kraus
Tax policy may be a major issue in the new 2013 session. Kraus is familiar with the ongoing ‘border war’, with the state of Kansas.
Some in Kansas City believe the state og Kansas is aggressively raiding Missouri-side businesses with tax breaks.
Kansas City Democrat Jolie Justus has been named to lead the Senate’s Progress and development panel.
Senate leader Tom Dempsey announced the list of Committee Chairman for the 2013 session Thursday.
The Kansas City Star reports the assignments are:

Administration: Dempsey
Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources: Sen. Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown
Appropriations: Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia
Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment: Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah
Education: Sen. David Pearce, R-Warrensburg
Financial and Government Organizations and Elections: Sen. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa
General Laws: Sen. Brian Nieves, R-Washington
Governmental Accountability and Fiscal Oversight: Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar
Gubernatorial Appointments: Sen. Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles
Jobs, Economic Development and Local Government: Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale
Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence: Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield
Progress and Development: Sen. Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City
Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics: Sen. Ron Richard, R-Joplin
Seniors, Families and Pensions: Sen. John Lamping, R-Ladue
Small Business, Insurance and Industry: Sen. Scott T. Rupp, R-Wentzville
Transportation and Infrastructure: Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City
Veterans’ Affairs and Health: Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla
Ways and Means: Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit

Talboy Out in KC State Senate Race, Others Jump In February 28, 2012

KC Star:
JEFFERSON CITY | House Minority Leader Mike Talboy made it official today that he won’t run for a state Senate seat that opened up two years early, sparking a trio of Democrats to jump into the race.
Talboy said he will instead run for another two-year term in the Missouri House.
“This just wasn’t the right time for me or my family,” said Talboy, a Kansas City Democrat who has a six month old baby at home.
Following Talboy’s announcement, Rep. Jason Holsman and Jackson County Legislator Crystal Williams told The Star that they intend to seek the Democratic nomination. And in an email to supporters last night, former state Rep. John Burnett made it clear he will also run for the seat.
Holsman said he waited to announce his intentions out of respect for Talboy. But in the last 24 hours he said he’s managed to raise $20,000. According to his January filing with the Missouri Ethics Commission, Holsman already had nearly $18,000 cash on hand.
Holsman points to his experience as a teacher as giving him perspective on the biggest issue facing Kansas City — its failing public school system
“Right now education is the one of the most prominent issues facing us, and we need someone who understands public education on a primary level, and can bring groups together to find solutions to the problems we face,” he said. “I understand what the students’ challenges are and some of the inherent problems with the district.”
Williams said her motivation to run came from seeing what Republican lawmakers have chosen to focus on so far this session, specifically legislation aimed at workplace discrimination, photo ID requirements to vote and contraception.
Burnett said he’s been planning to run for the seat all along, originally expecting to launch his campaign in 2014. The new map has pushed that plan forward, he said.
“If the commission does finalize these new lines and we have an election in six months rather that 30 months, I am running for the newly created 7th District Missouri Senate seat,” Burnett said in an email to supporters.
The open seat was created by a bipartisan commission charged with redrawing Missouri’s 34 state Senate districts. The Kansas City district was slightly altered and renumbered — it was the 10th, but now it’s the 7th.
Read more here: http://midwestdemocracy.com/articles/mike-talboy-will-not-run-missouri-senate/#storylink=cpy