13 Facts About Mel Hancock

Melton D "Mel" Hancock was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri's 7th congressional district.

Mel Hancock enlisted in the United States Air Force in August 1951.

Mel Hancock attended the United States Air Force Officer Candidate School and earned the rank of second lieutenant in March 1953.

Mel Hancock was relieved from active duty in 1953, but continued to serve in the United States Air Force Inactive Reserve until 1965 and was discharged at the rank of first lieutenant.

Mel Hancock worked full and part-time from 1947 to 1951 for International Harvester Company during college and from 1953 to 1959, when he resigned and returned to Springfield, Missouri to enter the insurance business, where he worked from 1959 to 1969.

Mel Hancock was the originator, catalyst, and primary organizer and author of an omnibus state and local tax limitation amendment to the Missouri Constitution passed by the voters of Missouri in 1980.

The Mel Hancock Amendment was one of the first state tax limitation amendments in the United States and is still in effect today.

The Mel Hancock Amendment was one of the first state tax limitation amendments passed in the United States and remains relevant today.

Today, the Mel Hancock Amendment continues to be a hedge against new tax increases considered by the General Assembly, its members knowing that any significant tax increase must win voter adoption.

In 1988, Mel Hancock was elected as a Republican to the 101st and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving between January 3,1989, and January 3,1997.

Mel Hancock was not a candidate for re-election to the 105th Congress.

Mel Hancock resided in Springfield with his wife Alma "Sug" McDaniel, whom he married on November 17,1951, until his death on November 6,2011.

In December 2014, Mel Hancock was announced as an inductee to the Hall of Famous Missourians.