Archive for August 2023

Missouri state Sen. Karla Eslinger is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. The Wasola Republican talked about the upcoming veto session, the state’s budget and expectations for the 2024 session.

Eslinger represents Missouri’s 33rd District, which takes in Douglas, Howell, Ozark, Shannon, Stone, Taney and Texas counties. She previously served one term in the Missouri House and will be eligible to run for a second Senate term in 2024.

Here’s what Eslinger talked about on the program:

• Whether lawmakers will override Gov. Mike Parson’s budgetary vetoes. She said the outcome could come down to Senate Appropriations Chairman Lincoln Hough’s decision-making, since typically the handler of vetoed bills gets to decide whether to pursue an override.
• The former teacher and school administrator talked extensively about what type of educational initiatives could be pursued in 2024 to help improve Missouri’s schools.
• A preview of the 2024 legislative session, including whether lawmakers will try to pass a ballot item making the constitution more difficult to amend.
• Whether banning foreign ownership of farmland is more complicated than it may appear. 

Eslinger is a former elementary school teacher who eventually became a school superintendent. Her degrees include a doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Before entering legislative politics, Eslinger was an assistant commissioner of education for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She more recently worked as a senior analyst for education services with the AEM Corp. and in that role worked with the U.S. Department of Education in Washington.

Eslinger was first elected to the Missouri House in 2018, representing a district that included Ozark and Douglas counties, as well as part of Taney County. After one term, she jumped into the primary to succeed Sen. Mike Cunningham. She narrowly won the GOP primary, which was tantamount to election.

In addition to being on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Eslinger serves as the chairwoman of the Senate Government Accountability Committee — which, among other things, handles licensing and registration regulations.

The latest episode of Politically Speaking features state Rep. Doug Clemens talking with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Sarah Kellogg about the public policy response to radioactive waste contamination.

Clemens represents Missouri’s 72nd House District, which takes in portions of northwest St. Louis County. He was first elected in 2018.

Here’s what Clemens discussed on the show:

• After a consortium of news agencies and St. Louis-area activists found that the federal government downplayed the risk of radioactive waste contamination, Clemens talked extensively about what needed to be done on a federal and state level to compensate residents.
• He discussed a plan from U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley that would add a number of St. Louis and St. Charles County ZIP codes to a program that reimburses people who contracted ailments consistent with radioactive waste exposure.
• Clemens previewed the upcoming veto session, which could feature lawmakers overriding some of Gov. Mike Parson’s vetoes on budgetary items.
• Clemens talked about what to expect in next year’s session, including efforts to curtail state government from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion training. GOP moves on that front sputtered after senators took out provisions restricting DEI funding from budgetary bills.

Clemens is a longtime resident of northwest St. Louis County and worked for a company that installs captioning phones for people who are hearing impaired. He first ran for the Missouri House in 2010, when he lost to Eileen McGeoghegan in the Democratic primary by 11 votes. He also lost in a run in 2012.

Six years later, Clemens defeated four other Democrats to win his House seat. Since 2018, he’s generally had marginal competition in the heavily Democratic House seat.

Clemens serves on House committees dealing with mental health, agriculture and pensions. He will be eligible to run for one more term, in 2024.

On the latest episode of Politically Speaking, state Rep. Melanie Stinnett discusses her entry into the Missouri General Assembly.

The Springfield Republican represents Missouri’s 133rd District, which takes in portions of Greene County. She was elected in 2022 to succeed Curtis Trent, who vacated the seat to run for the state Senate.

Here’s what Stinnett talked about on the program:

• Handling legislation that expanded Medicaid benefits for postpartum mothers. While the legislation had bipartisan support, it needed to get past lawmakers who wanted to add language prohibiting the benefit for people who received abortions.
• A bill she sponsored that expands the Ticket to Work program, which assists in providing health care benefits to people with disabilities.
• Her expectations for the 2024 session, including whether lawmakers will revisit plans to make amending the constitution more difficult.
• Whether a proliferation of Republican primary contests could harm the party’s chances at winning in the general election next year.

Stinnett is a speech pathologist who made her first bid for political office last year. The race to succeed Trent was a competitive one, with Stinnett emerging victorious by a little more than 400 votes.

While Springfield has historically leaned Republican, Democrats have found more success there in recent years — most notably in winning three seats in the House.

In addition to serving on a House committee overhauling health care, Stinnett is also a member of a committee that deals with professional licensing and registration.

With the addition of Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, there are now three Republicans running to be Missouri’s treasurer.

The candidates include House Budget Chair Cody Smith, R-Carthage, as well as current Treasurer Vivek Malek.

Koenig believes one way he would be different from Malek would be his desire to work closely with the legislature. He cited his experience in navigating bills through the occasionally contentious Missouri Senate as something that makes him stand out.

“Anybody can filibuster in the Senate, and I have proven to build consensus,” Koenig said.

Koenig was the latest guest on “Politically Speaking.” In addition to his bid for treasurer, here’s what else he talked about on the show.

• How he manages to negotiate with senators and achieve compromises on bills within the Senate.
• The work he wants to do toward Empowerment Saving Accounts if elected treasurer.
• How his advocacy regarding tax cuts related to how he would run the treasurer’s office.
• His thoughts on Gov. Mike Parson vetoing millions of dollars from the state budget. Unlike some of his colleagues, Koenig is not upset over the vetoes.
• Why he believes state lawmakers should again attempt to make it harder to amend Missouri’s constitution.
• His support of the continued legal delays over a proposed constitutional amendment seeking to enshrine abortion rights.
• Whether he thinks much will get done in the legislative session next year.

Koenig was first elected to the Missouri House in 2008 and served four terms before winning election to the Senate in 2016.

Due to term limits, Koenig can no longer run for a position in either the House or Senate.

During a hearing of the House Children and Families Committee in October 2021, lawmakers slammed leaders of the Missouri Department of Social Services over their handling of missing foster children in the state.

A report found the department’s Children’s Division repeatedly failed to report absent kids and did little to prevent them from going missing again.

A few months after that hearing, Jefferson County Judge Darrell Missey took over as director of the division.

Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, served on the Children and Families Committee during that hearing and now serves as chair. She says while she appreciates the work Missey has done, problems remain in the Children’s Division.

On what the state can do to address those problems, Kelly sees the benefits of collaboration between the government and private entities.

“I’m saying let the state focus on the hotline, let the state focus on the investigations, let the state focus on the overall mechanism of how we implement the best outcome for these kids in crisis,” Kelly said. “But let people in the private sector have more freedom to work out the answers that are brought to the table.”

Kelly spoke on the topic on the latest episode of “Politically Speaking.” Here’s what else she talked about on the show:

• The hundreds of millions of dollars that Gov. Mike Parson vetoed from the state budget. Kelly says she believes there will be efforts to overturn some of those vetoes, though she isn’t sure of their success.
• Her support of making it harder to amend Missouri’s constitution. Kelly says she will do everything she can to encourage that conversation next session.
• Whether Missouri Republicans will try to pass further restrictions affecting transgender people in the state.
• The upcoming 2024 election cycle. Kelly is supporting Rep. Cody Smith for state treasurer.

Kelly was first elected to the House in 2016. She is about to begin her final year because of term limits. Outside of the legislature, she owns a real estate company with her sister.