By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A northwest Missouri state senator entering his final legislative session hopes to leave a lasting legacy.
Sen. Dan Hegeman first won election to the Missouri Senate in 2014, winning re-election four years later. He must leave office after this year due to term limits.
Hegeman, the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, says this year he hopes to make the most of a healthy state budget with some fund reserves.
“And certainly would like to leave the state in good shape there that will direct us well into the future and have some fund reserves so that other legislatures will be able to utilize them should they ever get into a pinch we’ll have some reserves to get us through some tight times,” Hegeman tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
Hegeman says he hopes to help state lawmakers effectively use current fund balances in a state budget doing much better than most expected.
“And that’s one of the things I’m looking forward to,” Hegeman says of this legislative session. “I would love that to be my legacy that we balanced the budget and actually had some reserves set aside to be able to guide us through tough times.”
Hegeman says the legislature needs to carefully invest the fund balances in the state budget as well as wisely spend federal coronavirus relief funds. He says that if handled correctly, the current healthy state of the budget could benefit legislatures for years to come.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to continue to serve the folks of the great northwest part of the state and will do my best to leave it in better shape than what I found it,” Hegeman says.
Hegeman, a Republican from Cosby, served in the Missouri House from 1991 to 2002 before deciding to run again for the Senate in 2014. He won re-election four years later.