Toll authority is a high priority, as legislation is needed to allow state toll financing of road and bridge projects. Another outgoing Transportation Committee member, Sen. Danny Staples, D-Eminence, said voter education will likely be a factor in gaining support for toll projects, because they would require voter approval. Hungerbeeler said tolling is not a solution in itself, but merely a step toward financing some projects.
As the minutes pass, the flurry of activity grows and the bill inches closer to its ultimate destiny. In the middle of it all are two cousins from Shannon County--Rep. Don Koller and Sen. Danny Staples.
Sen. Danny Staples, D-Eminence, expressed confidence in bill sponsor and Senate Appropriations Committee chairman John Russell, R-Lebanon. "If you say we need to pass this bill, we need to pass it," Staples said to Russell. "I know you will not lead this body astray."
Sen. Danny Staples, who represents the 20th District (the older southeast Missouri version), says the result is that his constituents will have no senator for two years.
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