A few days before I was sworn in as Secretary of State, I told a close friend the news that Diana was pregnant, news we were still several weeks away from making public. After the customary words of excitement and congratulations, he made this profound observation: “Wow, Jason, your life a year ago, your life right now, and your life a year from now could not possibly be any more different.”
He was right and I feel incredibly lucky – both personally and professionally. As we head into the new year, I wanted to share with you my top 10 from my first year in this job:
10. Promoting open and transparent government: A newspaper that endorsed my opponent in 2012 editorialized that my approach was “a breath of fresh air.”
He was right and I feel incredibly lucky – both personally and professionally. As we head into the new year, I wanted to share with you my top 10 from my first year in this job:
10. Promoting open and transparent government: A newspaper that endorsed my opponent in 2012 editorialized that my approach was “a breath of fresh air.”
9. Leading by example in office policies: We added sexual orientation and gender identity to our office’s non-discrimination policy and adopted an office-wide policy prohibiting the acceptance of personal gifts from lobbyists.
8. Reviving the effort to pass early voting: I brought together a bipartisan group of election officials and citizens from all parts of the state to craft the most affordable and bipartisan early voting legislation Missouri has seen in years.
7. Standing up for Missouri: When Texas Governor Rick Perry brought his job poaching tour to our state, I was the first to call foul and worked to influence the national debate over economic development and promote entrepreneurship over job poaching.
6. Being Secretary of the whole State: In 2012, I won a tight race because we went everywhere and met everyone we could – and we haven’t stopped. In every part of our great state, we’ve held office hours or otherwise promoted the services we offer Missourians.
5. Ensuring integrity in our elections: It’s my job to make sure only eligible voters vote, but also that every eligible voter has the opportunity to vote. We launched a new unit focused on both responsibilities and made the unit’s findings available for all Missourians to review.
4. Protecting Missourians from financial fraud: We’ve demonstrated zero tolerance for those who seek to scam Missourians out of their hard-earned savings. Whether it’s taking on individual scam artists or huge corporations, our team of investigators and attorneys works every day to make Missourians whole again.
3. Continuing the fight for ethics reform: I remain dedicated to passing ethics and campaign reform legislation that ends Missouri’s reign as worst in the nation and instead makes us a leader for other states to emulate.
2. Bringing voter registration into the 21st century: Just a few days ago, in what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called an “unexpected Christmas gift” to Missourians, we made Missouri the 16th state to accept voter registration forms via the web.
1. Working with such a talented team: With a staff of nearly 250 employees spread over several offices and a wide-ranging set of responsibilities, the outstanding team we’ve put together works hard to serve their fellow Missourians everyday. I remain honored by your faith in me, and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to lead this excellent group of public servants.
Obviously, on the personal side, there’s been plenty to be excited about as well. Diana and I officially started a family this year. True is now 4 months old and the three of us are having so much fun together.
Here’s to even more success (and fun) in 2014.
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