U.S. Rep. Smith tours 8th District, talks rural school funding and tax cuts

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith recently toured Missouri’s 8th Congressional District, making stops at
Alton High School in Oregon County and a Wright County McDonald’s to discuss federal funding
and small business tax relief.
In Alton, Smith met with FFA students and school administrators. As a Salem native and former
FFA member Smith highlighted the importance of the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act
of 2025. The bipartisan bill extended a 2000 act that provides payments to counties with federal
forest lands to compensate for the inability to collect local property taxes on those acres.
Smith, himself a farmer in addition to representing a largely rural constituency, said he has a
special interest in policy that affects rural and agricultural demographics.
The 2025 amendment corrected a lapse in revenue-sharing payments that caused a 70%
reduction for rural school districts in fiscal year 2024. The new legislation covers payments
through fiscal year 2026.
Rural school funding is a perennial challenge in the 8th District, where property values are often
lower than in urban areas and large swaths of land are federally owned. The Mark Twain
National Forest covers about 1.5 million acres across 29 Missouri counties; 19 of those counties
fall within Smith’s district, totaling more than 1 million federal acres. The largest single plot is in
Oregon County, which contains 104,721 acres of the forest.
Smith’s tour also included a stop at the Mtn. Grove McDonald’s in Wright County. There Smith
spoke with West Plains-based owners Andi Hilburn-Vaini and Marc Vaini, along with restaurant
staff, and discussed the "Working Families Tax Cuts" bill, which he authored.
During the visit, Smith highlighted several provisions of the legislation he says are designed to

provide direct relief to rural Missourians. Among those is a permanent 20% small business tax
deduction for locally owned restaurants and a "no tax on overtime" provision, allowing hourly
employees to keep more of their earnings from extra shifts.
Smith also noted the bill’s impact on household budgets, stating that under the current tax
structure, a typical family of four in Wright County pays no federal income tax on the first
$73,000 earned.
“Small businesses like the Mountain Grove McDonald’s play an important role in providing
opportunities for people to earn a paycheck and build skills,” Smith said. He also pointed to
employer-provided education assistance benefits, which allow businesses to help employees
pay off student loans or advance their careers without an additional tax burden.
While on-site, the Congressman joined the crew behind the counter, assisting with drive-thru
orders and food preparation to see firsthand the daily operations of the local franchise.