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Wiemann: Missouri ‘moving in the right direction’ with vaccine rollout

While Missouri’s COVID-19 vaccination effort has seen plenty of discussion over the past few weeks, House Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann said the state was on track in its endeavor. 

“The governor is doing the best he can to get the vaccine distributed across the state and get needles in arms as much as possible,” the businessman said. “I think we’re moving in the right direction. The governor has really reiterated this past week that we’re really getting vaccinations out, we’re getting distributed in the right areas.”

Wiemann said there were a myriad of complications with the rollout, including the public’s expectations and the number of vaccines the state had received but praised Gov. Mike Parson’s efforts during an unprecedented challenge. 

Wiemann appeared on Sunday’s episode of “This Week in Missouri Politics” to discuss the first month of session, election security, legislation on local control, and COVID liability. He said one of his priorities this session was reducing taxes for Missourians. 

“Every year we look at ways to reduce taxes in Missouri,” he said. “I’m planning to file a bill that will be looking at addressing our personal property tax. … We’re looking at ways to try to lessen the tax burden on Missourians and Missouri businesses. One of the things we’re also hopeful we can get done this year is dealing with a Wayfair tax, for online sales tax. We want to make sure we’re applying the tax fairly.”

Second Amendment Preservation Act 

State Reps. Tracy McCreery and Tony Lovasco joined this week’s panel alongside political consultant David Barklage to discuss local control and the state’s vaccination efforts.

The panel also discussed legislation on deck this session, including the Second Amendment Preservation Act recently passed by the House. While Lovasco praised the bill, which would allow state gun laws to supersede federal regulation, McCreery decried the effort.

“This is truly a Republican bill that will defund the police, and it’s going to be a huge danger to public safety all around,” she said. “A great example of why this will be deadly for Missourians is Missouri does not have any state law regarding background checks, so we have to follow federal law as it relates to background checks for gun purchases. If this bill were to go into effect, we would be leaving victims of abuse out there with no way for these background checks to keep guns out of their convicted abuser’s hands.”

Watch the full episode of “This Week in Missouri Politics” below, or listen to the podcast version here