State Sen. Jim Lembke, R-Lemay, has been named to serve on the Senate Interim Committee on Natural Disaster Recovery.
“This year, weather-related disasters have devastated many of our friends’ homes, our neighbors’ businesses, the airport that sends us on our way and welcomes us home again, farm land, our communities, and tragically killed some of our fellow Missourians,” Lembke stated in a news release. “It started with a New Year’s Eve tornado in Sunset Hills, followed by a blizzard in February, continued with a fatal tornado in Joplin and we are now preparing for record flooding along both the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers. The way government handles these situations critically impacts how quickly, of even if, a community can recover.”
Lembke will serve on the Subcommittee on Fiscal Response, one of three subcommittees that will comprise the full panel. It will submit recommendations before the Legislature returns to Jefferson City for the annual veto session on Sept. 14.
“Fiscal response is crucial, especially in the economic climate Missouri is in,” Lembke stated. “Someone has to be in charge and make sure the dollars that are promised get there as quickly as possible, so recovery and rebuilding can start immediately. We can’t have businesses closed for long periods of time and people out of their homes because of bureaucracy. Our subcommittee will look into what’s getting done correctly, and what needs to change.”
