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Hanaway outlines economic plan in Holts Summit

HOLTS SUMMIT, Mo. – Republican gubernatorial candidate Catherine Hanaway kicked off what she’s calling her ‘Show Me Jobs Tour’ Thursday in Eureka to highlight her economic policies. Hanaway will meet with leaders from Missouri businesses, including one stop she made in Holts Summit at Pro Foods Systems headquarters which is best known as the parent company of Champs Chicken.

The candidate toured the facility and spoke with members of the press just a day after a Republican gubernatorial debate hosted by St. Louis Public Radio. She detailed the five steps she would like to take as governor to emphasize a focus on jobs. It involves conservative stances like passing right-to-work legislation, reducing the regulatory burden put on businesses, appointing conservative justices to all for tort reform, focusing on technical and vocational education, and reducing and modernizing income taxes.

“It’s time to implement pro-growth, conservative economic policies that will get this state back on track,” Hanaway said in a statement. “As governor, I not only want to bring jobs back, but bring quality jobs back to Missouri.”

However, she also made some concessions on those five points, stating that while taxes could and should be lowered, that Missouri should be wary of the budget shortfalls that have happened in Kansas since Gov. Sam Brownback introduced sweeping and massive personal income tax cuts in 2012 that even some Kansas Republicans would like to see rolled back a bit.

“I do think the way Kansas did it, by cutting taxes before knowing how they would pay for things, was the wrong way to go,” Hanaway said. “I think that you have to do it gradually over time and make sure you have a replacement for the spending that you want to continue to do… but you also have to find out where you can cut and reduce spending.”

Hanaway also spoke about the need for college affordability when discussing her advocacy for more vocational training, but said she was far from becoming a Bernie Sanders supporter, calling for universally free tuition. Instead, she said that while Missouri’s universities had succeeded in keeping costs fairly low, it was still too high.

“They’ve done better under Gov. [Jay] Nixon in terms of growth, but tuition costs have greatly outpaced inflation for a number of years,” she said. “It is simply wrong that the average Missouri student attending a public university is coming out of college $24,000 in debt.”

Her emphasis on vocational and technical degrees has been a large focus of her campaign as it relates to economics.

Hanaway will also make stops in Kansas City, Joplin and Springfield before being joined by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on the campaign trail Monday.

For a full release of Hanaway’s economic plan, click here.