Rep. Jason Smith

May is now officially Beef Month in Missouri — a month when we recognize the hardworking cattle producers who keep families fed here at home and across the country. Missouri ranks third in the nation for beef cows with nearly 2 million head, and our cattle industry generates nearly $2 billion in sales while supporting more than 400,000 jobs. Thank you to all the cattle producers who play such a pivotal role in our Missouri way of life!

I enjoyed getting to join @POTUS at the White House for the launch of Trump IRA accounts. These accounts will be transformational for empowering Americans to save for their retirement! 🇺🇸

Some of the largest hospital systems are using loopholes to claim “rural” status to access benefits meant for small, underserved, rural communities. At New York-Presbyterian, eight campuses are classified this way...even in the middle of Manhattan. There aren’t any farms on East 68th Street.

CNBC: Personal income doubled expectations in March — increasing at the highest level in nearly a year — while spending remained robust. "That is pretty good news."

Today, as H.R. 7655, the Support for Expectant and Parenting Foster Youth Act, advanced to the House, we remember the legacy of Jackie Walorski and her leadership in reauthorizing the MIECHV program, strengthening its focus on evidence-based support, and expanding resources for states. Thank you, @RepRudyYakym, for building on that work to make sure these resources are connected to the foster care system so they can make an impact.

Today, the Ways and Means Committee held a markup of 6 bills that will modernize the Chafee Foster Youth Program to better serve our nation’s foster youth. Thanks to First Lady Melania Trump’s advocacy and a bipartisan effort from members of the Committee, all 6 of these bills were passed out of the Committee UNANIMOUSLY. Next stop: the House Floor!

Congrats to Erin for the win, and to Josh for successfully hitting ‘post.’ @HawleyMO

Today, the Ways and Means Committee is taking action to modernize the Chafee Foster Care Program to improve outcomes for youth aging out of foster care. After a powerful roundtable discussion with @FLOTUS, today, the Committee is marking up 6 bills that are strongly aligned with the First Lady’s Fostering the Future initiative.

Tomorrow, @WaysandMeansGOP will mark up six bipartisan bills as part of our ongoing work to strengthen support for foster youth. I applaud @FLOTUS for using her platform to be a voice for the voiceless, standing up for the children who too often are forgotten about. I look forward to advancing life-changing solutions for these young Americans who deserve care, stability, and a fair shot.

"I would say that non-for-profit hospitals look like hedge funds with hospital beds because of how they're acting," says @RepJasonSmith ahead of a hearing with hospital executives on rising healthcare costs: cnb.cx/4mYJi3l

MUST WATCH: @RepJasonSmith tears into some of the leading nonprofit hospitals’ misplaced priorities. Nonprofit health systems receive multi-billion-dollar tax breaks, while spending an abysmal fraction of that on charity care. The rest of the money goes to real estate, stadium naming rights, climate activism, and woke political agendas.

Large hospital systems are profiting off Medicare rules that pay them more for the same service than independent practices. That means a senior in my district can pay MORE for an X-ray at a hospital than at a local doctor’s office -- and the hospital makes MORE too. Today I asked hospital system CEOs a simple question: should we equalize payments to lower costs and expand access? They said no. Americans deserve affordable care, not a system that rewards higher prices.

Democrats continue to lie about the Working Families Tax Cuts to justify their vote to raise taxes on working-class Americans. In today's hearing, a Democrat witness tried to claim that a nursing home in Nebraska closed because of the Working Families Tax Cuts. In reality, the CEO of that very health care system explained that was NOT true.

These egregiously high prices are why, today, the Ways and Means Committee has called in the CEOs of the largest hospital chains in the country. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

.@jimmykimmel calling the First Lady an “expectant widow” is the exact kind of rhetoric that has emboldened left-wing political violence against President Trump. Just days after his comments, a deranged gunman disrupts the very event being mocked and targets the President of the United States and his administration. This is what passes for “entertainment” on the Left now. @abc must hold Kimmel accountable. foxnews.com/media/kimmel-c…

Our health care system is broken. These days, non-for-profit hospitals look more like hedge funds with hospital beds. Today, @WaysandMeansGOP is holding a hearing with hospital CEOs as we continue our investigation into the health care empires that have raised prices and taken away access. Politicians have refused to take on the health care empire and its lobbyists for too long. If we’re serious about lowering costs and expanding access to health care, nothing can be off-limits.

The fans have spoken — the Ozarks’ own Hannah Harper is in the top 5 on American Idol! Her talent and authenticity is undeniable, and I’m glad the rest of America agrees. Keep shining, Hannah!

I applaud the revisions to Form 990, imposed by @USTreasury, to increase transparency in the non-profit sector. Tax exempt status is a privilege, not a right, and it’s time some of these organizations are reminded of that. The Ways and Means Committee has spent YEARS investigating abuses of tax-exempt status and I’m glad we finally have an administration that is taking these abuses seriously.

Tomorrow morning, the Ways and Means Committee will hold its second hearing on health care affordability as we continue the fight to bring down costs for working families. Americans are fed up with outrageous costs and deserve to get answers and accountability.

I enjoyed visiting the Mayfield Entrepreneurial Center in Bollinger County recently and meeting with the incredible staff behind this project. Located on the third floor of the historic Bollinger County Library, the MEC is an incubator for entrepreneurs and will soon offer courses for tradespeople like HVAC technicians, plumbers, welders, and cosmetologists who are ready to take the leap and start their own business. Southeast Missouri's entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well, and the Mayfield Entrepreneurial Center is proof of it!