Courtney Cole, candidate for the 121st house seat in Missouri. (Campaign Photo)
(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) Democratic candidate for 121st District State Representative Courtney Cole has called on the legislature to, “agree to a special session to focus on passing a badly needed jobs bill to put Missourians back to work.”
The request comes after Representative Jerry Nolte opened the idea, something Governor Jay Nixon has said he’d be open to if the legislature was productive.
“Missouri has a 9.5 percent unemployment rate and small businesses are closing their doors every day. We cannot afford to lose more jobs,” says Cole in a statement. “That is why … I’m joining the bi-partisan call for the legislature to hold a special session focusing on a serious jobs bill that puts Missourians back to work and food on the table,”
Cole says, “[I'm] calling for the legislature to support incentives to keep the Ford Claycomo plant here in Missouri, incentives for manufacturing and small business growth in rural areas, and a serious review of the recent findings in an audit completed by State Auditor Susan Montee regarding tax handouts.”
Montee’s audit, which was publicly released in April, showed a billion dollars in tax credit giveaways.
Cole, a teacher from Warrensburg, says, “The legislature must pass a plan to bring in long-term, good paying manufacturing, agricultural and small business jobs for Missouri families throughout the state.”
“We must remove politics out of who gets tax credits and allow Economic Development Director David Kerr to focus the necessary resources on attracting jobs. The partisan political games in Jefferson City have wasted millions of our hard earned tax dollars and kept too many people out of work. It’s time for it to end,” closed Cole.
Cole is running a close fight against incumbent Denny Hoskins, a CPA out of Warrensburg.
Local representatives have been quiet on this issue.
