January 2021 marks the beginning of the State of Missouri legislative session and a new administration in Washington, D.C.
Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on Wednesday of this week. His first 100 days agenda includes special attention to vaccine rollout and addressing our nation’s post pandemic economy.
In Jefferson City, Governor Parson was sworn in last week as the session began. He mentioned several priorities in his address related to business.
Wayfair, workforce development, and infrastructure are all important to the business community. The Chamber will be working on these issues along with many regional and statewide partners.
The pandemic accelerated consumers’ likelihood to shop online and Missouri remains only one of two states who collect sales tax that hasn’t addressed the ability to do so with online sales. This is important to address now.
Our state transportation infrastructure and broadband access need to be a focus this year. Missouri lags far behind in transportation dollars spent per road mile and statewide broadband access is more critical now than ever.
A skilled and available workforce was the top issue for businesses prior to the pandemic and that will not change moving forward. We must explore all reasonable possibilities to provide training opportunities to all our citizens. It is time to look at expanded roles for our higher education institutions.
