Congressman Mike Bost’s tele town hall meeting -effective

Steve Dunford – franklincounty-news.com

WASHINGTON, DC –  Last night Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) conducted a town hall meeting via telephone with his constituents. The meeting started at 6:45 p.m. local time.  The sophomore congressman apologized, saying there was a delay in voting on a bill on the house floor that held the meeting back.

In congressman Bost’s opening statements he gave two reasons for this format.  The first was he can reach over 80,000 constituents using this format.  Second, this format would be free of interruptions from protesters.  It is past precedence that GOP congressman have been subject to protesters that take over town hall meetings, not giving the whole constituency the right to speak.

There are some that are across the district that have voice their displeasure with Mike Bost for not holding a town hall meeting in person. There was a gathering at a Carbondale restaurant last night to where a suit was hanging up representing Bost.  The town hall meeting was carried over the establishments PA system.

The meeting was fast paced, the audio quality was outstanding, and there were several topics that were covered.

The only critique I have of the meeting if it could be on video somehow.  That way, charts, graphs, and any other visual aids could be used.  Other than that, I felt the tele town hall meeting format was very effective.

Before the congressman began to take calls, he cited some of his accomplishments since congress convened on the aid in passing veterans on coal legislation.  The calls were evenly distributed across the twelfth congressional district.

He also stressed that when he is in the district his door is open to meet at any time with constituents.

The majority  of the calls dealt with the Affordable Care Act.  The congressman referred to a three step process in the process, repair, replace then repeal.  Callers would give their individual circumstances and Bost would explain how the individual caller world benefit.  He said the goals of the new act would be provider based, and more affordable from competition.

There was one call that asked if the Congressman would vote for or against HB 861 which would eliminate the EPA.  He said that he would not vote for elimination completely, however, he stated there are some regulations that need cut.

There was one caller that inquired about the UMWA pensions.  He said something about the pension health insurance being paid out of mine acclimation funds.  I am working on getting some more information on this.  There was an extension that was voted on in congress to extend this until the end of April.

I am looking forward to the next meeting.  It is a great way to be informed what is taking place in Washington on our behalf.