Jeanette Mott Oxford for State Representative 2010

Saturday, February 18, 2006

JMO4Rep Update - Feb. 06 edition

Friends and Supporters -

I have long intended to send out this first update of the 2006 Legislative Session, and I apologize for its delay. The past three months have been very busy as I have worked on legislation & other strategies for:
- raising the minimum wage & providing an earned income tax credit for families in poverty
- improving working conditions for taxi drivers in the St. Louis area and for state workers at DSS, DMH, and DHSS
- enhancing civil rights protections (including for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons) and ending the death penalty
- preventing bullying in our public schools & expanding access to early childhood education
- reforming Missouri tax policy so that it will be more fair, adequate, and sustainable
- restoring healthcare eligibility and services to the many who have lost Medicaid coverage
- improving the safety net for our most vulnerable citizens (for example, initiating a pilot program for utility assurance for families in poverty)

To read a list of all bills that I have sponsored or co-sponsored, go to:
http://www.house.mo.gov/bills061/spon/spn059.htm

This year I am serving on the following committees: Children and Families (where practically every bill we hear is about further limiting abortion); Ethics; Retirement; and the Special Committee on Energy and Environment (that's a new one that will hold its first meeting on Feb. 21).

Rep. John Bowman invited me to join him in speaking at a press conference for the Missouri House Democrats this month when we announced a bill to raise the state minimum wage and to add an automatic cost of living increase. To see highlights of this and other parts of the "Moving Missouri Forward" plan, open the attached PDF file. You'll find a picture of yours truly on page 5. (Thanks to Perry Nelson for providing this photo from the ecumenical hymn festival at Graham Chapel, Washington University, in support of Lutheran Campus Ministries last fall.)

I will be filing for re-election as State Representative from the 59th District on Feb. 28. Some of you will be receiving a letter during the next week asking for a donation to my campaign. Whether or not you receive the letter, I hope you will send a check for an amount that you find affordable to:
Citizens to Elect Oxford
P. O. Box 19112
St. Louis, MO 63118

Your help with fundraising will be appreciated! I anticipate postage, printing, and phone costs regardless of the number of opponents I have or do not have in the August primary and the November general election.

I welcome your questions, suggestions, and prayers as the Session continues.