University of Missouri

Government Relations

Contact your legislators

Supporting legislative priorities of the University is important advocacy. Use these resources to assist you in your support for your institution.

• Sample letter
• Talking points
• Faculty Salaries
• Legislative Leadership
• Legislator Lookup

Letter Text

Compose a message about how your university benefits the State of Missouri. Copy text out of the field below to start and then feel free to customize the message to make it personal to your experiences.

Just copy and paste:

Dear [Representative/Senator]: As a friend of the University of Missouri, I encourage you to support the following priorities for the University in HB2003, the higher education operating appropriation for FY2009: 1. A 4.2 percent increased investment in the operating core. We encourage you to support a 4.2 percent increased investment in operating funds as part of a three-year plan to return appropriations levels to the 2001 amount. The funding is the state’s share of the additional investment needed to sustain a quality education. The University of Missouri’s 65,000 student enrollment comprises 72 percent of the students enrolled in the state’s four-year higher education institutions. The additional investment would offset increased costs for utilities, technology, employee benefits and provide a minimal pool for employee salary adjustments based on performance. 2. $13.4 million for Preparing to Care. Missouri is facing critical shortages in health care professionals at a time when our population is aging. We urge you to support an initial investment of $13.4 million for the Preparing to Care initiative brought forward by the higher education institutions to provide support needed to increase the number of graduates in critical areas such as medicine, nursing, allied health, dentistry, pharmacy and optometry. Please support the Representative Ed Robb amendment to add the $13.4 million for Preparing to Care. 3. $3.55 million for the ranked faculty compensation plan. The University of Missouri lags far behind its peers in compensation for ranked faculty. At a time when we are facing record enrollments and record growth in research funding other institutions are coming forward with attractive offers to lure away our best faculty. We urge you to support the University’s matching plan to bring ranked faculty salaries up to the median of peer institutions so that we can attract and retain the best faculty. An investment to recruit and retain top faculty results in a stronger educational experience for students and contributes to the state’s economic development through additional funding for research and the creation of new businesses from technology transfer. The University is requesting $3.55 million this year, to be matched by institution funds. 4. $2.6 million in equity funds for UM-St. Louis. I urge you to support $2.6 million in funding for FY09 to address the funding gap between UMSL and other peer institutions as recommended by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education and supported by the University. I hope you will be supportive of efforts to include these items in HB2003 as it continues through the legislative process. Thank you for your support of the University of Missouri. Sincerely,

Legislative Leadership

• House Leadership
  • Speaker - Rod Jetton
  • Speaker Pro Tem - Bryan Pratt
  • Majority Floor Leader - Steven Tilly
  • Asst. Majority Floor Leader - Tom Self
  • Majority Whip - Brian Nieves
  • Majority Caucus Chair - Bob Dixon
  • Majority Caucus Secretary - Marilyn Ruestman
  • Minority Floor Leader - Paul LeVota
  • Asst. Minority Floor Leader - J.C. Kuessner
  • Minority Whip - Connie Johnson
  • Minority Caucus Chair - Ed Wildberger
  • Minority Caucus Vice-Chair - Gina Walsh
  • Minority Caucus Secretary - Sara Lampe
• House Budget Committee
  • Icet, Allen, Chair
    
  • Robb, Edward, Vice Chair
    
  • Baker, Judy
    
  • Cunningham, Mike
    
  • Curls, Shalonn "KiKi"
    
  • Dethrow, Mike
    
  • Donnelly, Margaret
    
  • Fares, Kathlyn
    
  • Harris, Belinda
    
  • Hobbs, Steve
    
  • Hughes, Leonard
    
  • Lampe, Sara
    
  • Lembke, Jim
    
  • Moore, Danielle
    
  • Nasheed, Jamilah
    
  • Sater, David
    
  • Schaaf, Robert
    
  • Schlottach, Charles
    
  • Silvey, Ryan
    
  • Stevenson, Bryan P.
    
  • Storch, Rachel
    
  • Stream, Rick
    
  • Whorton, James
    
  • Wildberger, Edward
    
• Senate Leadership
  • President Pro Tem - Michael Gibbons
  • Majority Floor Leader - Charlie Shields
  • Assistant Majority Floor Leader - Jack Goodman
  • Minority Floor Leader - Maida Coleman
  • Assistant Minority Floor Leader - Chuck Graham
  • Majority Caucus Chairman - Luann Ridgeway
  • Majority Caucus Secretary - Delbert Scott
  • Majority Caucus Whip - Kevin Engler
  • Minority Caucus Chairman - Frank Barnitz
  • Minority Caucus Secretary - Yvonne Wilson
• Senate Appropriations Committee
  • Gary Nodler, 32nd, Chairman
    
  • Rob Mayer, 25th, Vice-Chair
    
  • Norma Champion, 30th
    
  • Chuck Purgason, 33rd
    
  • Luann Ridgeway, 17th
    
  • Scott Rupp, 2nd
    
  • Frank Barnitz, 16th
    
  • Joan Bray, 24th
    
  • Tim Green, 13th
    
  • Yvonne Wilson, 9th