Well, it’s hard to believe that it’s already the end of March, meaning we have just six weeks remaining in the 2023 legislative session. I am pleased with what we have accomplished so far, as my colleagues and I have done much to increase freedom and protect our most vulnerable. However, one major piece of legislation is yet to pass: a bill that would protect residents of Cass and Jackson Counties from the construction of a landfill that would decimate their property values and alienate their property rights. This legislation has been an uphill battle every step of the way, and I fully anticipate it will take everything we’ve got to get this bill across the finish line.
As I sit here and think about what it has taken to get this legislation to this point and what it will take to see it passed into law, I am truly amazed. This is rare legislation because it only benefits one region of our state. Typically, bills like this can pass both House and Senate with relative ease because if the senators and representatives from the impacted areas believe a particular bill is good, all of their colleagues will join them in support. This legislation has been different.
I am pleased to say that every state representative and state senator from the greater Jackson and Cass County regions are resolute in stopping this landfill, but there remains opposition from one or two senators residing hundreds of miles away in the eastern part of Missouri. While this opposition has been perplexing and, to be frank, very disappointing, I believe the true source of the opposition is lobbyists.
The reality of this situation is there are 17 lobbyists, almost all of whom live in the eastern part of Missouri, who are spreading lies and disinformation about this landfill and attempting to use their pocketed legislators to stop this bill from passing.
What I am about to say is not hyperbole. These lobbyists are attempting to line their pockets with your money. After all, consider that 44,446 residential parcels of land will now have to disclose that a landfill will be built within a five-mile radius of their home. This means this landfill, which will be constructed, owned and operated by multi-millionaires, will be done so at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars in property values for regular folks. And here is what is most nefarious about this, all of these big city lobbyists know this. They know that if they can get this landfill constructed it will obliterate property values, the creation of small businesses, tourism and many other economic factors in the region. They know it, and they don’t care.
Let me tell you what else these lobbyists know. They know the individuals who want to construct the landfill have yet to purchase the land. They know the multi-millionaires who wish to build a landfill also have plans to reroute a creek in the area, install a rock crushing operation, install a methane capture operation, as well as an aerobic digestion operation. They know the goal of these millionaires is to receive 2,500 tons of solid waste every single day.
They know this means that these millionaires plan to have 500 trash trucks in and out of the proposed landfill on a daily basis. These trucks will be driving through your neighborhoods and tearing up your roads. They also know this information has been intentionally hidden from you, the people this proposed landfill will directly impact.
Even though the battle will continue to be difficult, I am confident we will win. I have been genuinely amazed at how our community has come together to stop this landfill. I have been contacted by residents of the region who have collected thousands of signatures from people just like you and me who don’t want a dump in their backyard.
Many residents have built signs and placed them all over the region to express their opposition. I have been in public office for nearly 15 years and have never seen a region so united for a cause. This is why we will win. When we win, it will not be a victory for me, or any other senator or representative, who has worked so hard to stop this landfill. It will be a victory for all of us. And the victory will be sweet.
Stopping this landfill is my No. 1 legislative priority, and we will get it done. Please stay tuned for more updates from my office as well as all of the other citizens working so diligently to protect our region from this unwanted landfill.
If you have any ideas, questions and concern, please feel free to contact me at the State Capitol: (573) 751-2108, rick.brattin@senate.mo.gov or by writing to Sen. Rick Brattin, Missouri State Capitol, Room 221, Jefferson City, MO 65101.
God bless and thank you for the opportunity to work for you in the Missouri Senate.
Rick Brattin
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