This is the first step in bringing accountability to our government.  By freezing spending we can identify waste and fraud, which will aide in fixing our budget shortfall while being able to keep cuts to important programs to a minimum.

  I will fight to ensure that every dollar that is spent will be done with strict oversight and will be spent in ways that will better our state and Missourians.  

At a time that Missouri families are struggling and important programs in our state budget are facing drastic cuts it is irresponsible for the people you elected and trusted to spend your money wisely, to take a pay raise in any form. 

I will introduce legislation that will require a tow-thirds vote of the Legislature for any tax measure to be placed on the ballot.  This will ensure that nothing that can effect Missouri families or business is placed without thorough and proper discussion.

I will introduce legislation that will ban gifts from lobbyists.  This will ensure that when a piece of legislation is considered your elected officials will vote based on the needs of our state, not the needs of the lobbyist that was the most generous.

SMALL BUSINESS

 While working to bring large employers to our region, Shelly will also do everything she can to get government off the backs of small business owners. Small businesses employ 95% of Missouri's workforce. As State Representative, Shelly will focus on taking government bureaucracy and red tape out of the small business process. She understands we need to create more private jobs and fewer government jobs.

Shelly was a small business owner as a partner in her own firm and understands the burdens that come with the freedom of being your own boss. Her firsthand experience makes her the best candidate to know what small business owners need, and more importantly, where they need government to butt out. She understands the importance of creating fair policies that promote small busniess growth; not policies that punish them.

Shelly also believes that the best way for government to facilitate the continued growth of the small business community, is to stay out of it as much as possible. When government stays out the way, small busniesses are able to invest more time and money in growing their business, resulting in the hiring of more people and offering better benefits.

HEALTHCARE

As an attorney who helps families wade through confusing, aggravating hospital bills every day, Shelly understands that exorbitant health care costs are hurting Missourians. However, she does not believe that greater government bureaucracy and socialization of medicine is the answer. Instead, Shelly supports smart health care reform that allows for quality care for Missouris senior citizens that also treats Missouri taxpayers with fairness and dignity.

Shelly believes that governments role in the health care system is to serve as an advocate for the people, helping to set and enforce fair rules for insurance companies that remind the industry that people - not profits -must come first. She also supports choice in health care, including freedom to choose your doctors and hospitals.

Shelly is also a strong proponent of standardization in health care billing. In the current health care system, the same hospital service performed in the same hospital, may be billed vastly different, based on the patients insurance carrier and other factors. The situation has gotten so out of control that hospitals and doctors offices are forced to hire full-time staffers to sort out billing discrepancies. That in turn, increases health care costs for everyone. As your State Representative, Shelly will propose new uniform billing measures that both ensure fair treatment by hospitals and insurance carriers, all the while saving those industries money reducing the costs for all Missourians.

Shelly also believes we must find ways to reduce the number of uninsured. Currently, 700,000 Missourians are uninsured while more than 850,000 are on the states Medicaid roles. That's nearly 1 in 5 Missourians. Right now, the cost of the uninsured is shifted to those of us with insurance, causing higher costs and higher health insurance premiums. Shifting them to the Medicaid roles, would be an overwhelming burden on taxpayers. Taxpayers can barely support Medicaid now and it continues to grow eating up a larger chunk of our budget because of out of control inflation in healthcare costs.

Shelly understands the difficulties that doctors face when it comes to mal pracitce incurance.  She feels that doctors who take care of thier patients without incident, should undoubtedly have less of an insurance burden. While doctors who, time and time again make mistakes, will have to pay a higher premium.  It is important to keep the insurance premiums down to be able to attract the best doctors to our area, and keep some of the great doctors that are already here.

EDUCATION

As a recipient of a Missouri public education, Shelly understands the utmost importance of our States education system. Keeping public dollars in the public system is very important to her, as well as making sure that funding to the schools is not cut.   Shelly, having paid her way through school with Scholarships and Student loans, is a prime example of how well this States education system can work.   She also understands that a child's education and their parents involvement goes hand in hand.   With that said, she knows that it is important to get those parents back to work so they will be able to provide for their children and support them in the education process.

Shelly is proudly the only candidate in the 129th who is endorsed by:  Missouri Association of School Administrations, Missouri Association of Elementary Principals, Missouri Association of Secondary Principals, and the Missouri Council of Career and Technical Administrators

TAXES

Shelly's parents grew up during the Depression. They taught Shelly the value of the dollar and made sure she understood from a very early age the importance of hard work. They never spent a dollar they did not have and that is a value that is sorely missing in government today. Shelly will take those values to Jefferson City to make sure government lives within its means, and to stand up to protect our kids from being left huge debts to pay for todays fiscal woes. As your representative, Shelly will say NO to more "so-called" stimulus packages. Shelly will say no to government ownership of private business. Shelly will only vote for a balanced budget and hold our Washington, D.C. officials' "feet to the fire" for a balanced federal budget. And, above all, Shelly will say no to new taxes.

Shelly believes we need a tax code that protects Missouri taxpayers, especially here in Southwest Missouri. She will fight to make sure that we do not lose businesses to our border states over tax rates, while making sure Missouri continues to have a low tax base that is attractive to companies.

FREEDOM

Shelly comes from a long line of avid sportsmen and women and will work to defend our 2nd Amendment Rights. Her husband, father, brother and nephew, are all hunters. Shelly also believes every Missourian should have the right to protect themselves. That is why she supports the right to carry and the Castle Doctrine, and will work to make sure neither are reversed.

Shelly is proud to be the only candidate in the 129th to receive an AQ rating from the NRA (the highest rating that is given to non-incumbent)

As an officer of the court, Shelly has sworn to uphold our Constitution. She is also a descendant of George Ross, an original signer of the Declaration of Independence. and is an active member of the Daughers of the Revolution. Shelly understands the importance of preserving our National and State Constitutions and will work to ensure that any proposal by the Legislature or Governor is constitutional to protect the rights of Missouri citizens.