Archive for October 2023

State Rep. Ken Waller is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where the Herculaneum Republican talked about his first year in the Missouri House.

Waller is a longtime county official who was elected to Missouri’s 114th District last year. The district includes Pevely, Herculaneum and Festus.

Here’s what Waller discussed on the program:

• His longtime desire to be in Missouri state politics, and his first impressions of serving after holding several key posts in Jefferson County government.
• The former county clerk talked about the decision from his colleagues not to place the state in charge of Missouri’s presidential primary contests. While some election officials said the move will save money, representatives from the Missouri Democratic and Republican parties have panned the move to a caucus system as confusing to voters.
• How an in-person, no-excuse absentee voting period has worked since being implemented during the 2022 election cycle.
• Why Jefferson County has become a Republican stronghold after decades of being an evenly divided battleground for statewide elections.

Waller worked in the insurance industry before successfully running for Jefferson County treasurer in 2004. After losing reelection during the 2008 Democratic wave, Waller made a comeback in 2010 when he was elected county executive — a post he held for eight years.
Waller won election in 2018 to be Jefferson County’s clerk, the office in charge of overseeing the county’s elections. After state Rep. Becky Ruth vacated her seat, Waller won the race to succeed her in 2022.

State Rep. Mike Haffner is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where the Pleasant Hill Republican talked about efforts to curtail some foreign-based companies from owning Missouri land.

Here’s what Haffner talked about on the show:

• How his extensive experience in the military prepared him to enter Missouri politics. 
• Why he’s optimistic his effort to try to curtail companies based in China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Russia from purchasing land in Missouri can gain momentum during the 2024 session.
• With Republican lawmakers likely to pursue making the Missouri Constitution more difficult to amend, Haffner discussed what sort of plan could be put before the state’s voters next year.

Haffner represents the 55th District, which takes in a portion of Cass County. He was first elected in 2018 and reelected in 2020 and 2022.

Before being elected to his House seat, Haffner had a long career as a Naval officer. He led combat air patrols over New York City immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

He eventually decided on a different vocation: owning a Christmas tree farm. He said his wife’s family has extensive ties to agriculture, which gave him the firsthand experience necessary to be the chairman of the House Agricultural Policy Committee.

Haffner is forgoing another term in the House and is instead running for the 31st District Senate seat next year. That puts him on a collision course with Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, and state Rep. Dan Houx, R-Johnson County.

State Rep. Mark Matthiesen is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where he talked about his priorities in the Missouri House.

Matthiesen represents a portion of St. Charles County. He was first elected to represent Missouri’s 107th District in 2022 and previously served two years in the House between 2017 and 2019.

Here’s what Matthiesen talked about on the program:

• How he got involved in Missouri politics and how his experience in the hospitality industry informed his philosophy around government and politics.
• Why he became so energized over radioactive waste exposure in the St. Louis region. And he explained what he’s trying to do as a state legislator to provide more testing.
• Discussions among some lawmakers to eliminate or reduce personal property taxes on vehicles.
• The GOP primary for governor and what sort of factors could provide an advantage for Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and state Sen. Bill Eigel.

Matthiesen successfully ran for the Missouri House in 2016, and represented a district that includes portions of St. Louis and St. Charles counties. The district was one of the most competitive in the state, and was split relatively evenly between the two parties.
In 2018, Matthiesen narrowly lost reelection to state Rep. Paula Brown. Now that Brown and Matthiesen serve together at the same time, they have been complimentary of each other.

Matthiesen ultimately moved to St. Charles County and ran for the open 107th District last year. That district is much more Republican-leaning than his old district, and winning the primary for that seat is essentially tantamount to election.

In the nearly one year since the deadly shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, the Republican-controlled Missouri legislature has not passed any gun control bills.

State Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, who represents the district that includes the school, said he’s disappointed and ashamed of his colleagues.

“It shocks me that this year, we couldn’t even get them to agree that kids shouldn’t be allowed to carry guns unsupervised on the street,” Merideth said.

The first set of bills Merideth filed for the 2023 legislative session all focused on gun control.

That package included a bill that created a red flag law, which allows, through courts, the temporary removal of a firearm from someone deemed a risk to themselves or others.

Meredith also filed legislation that raised the age to purchase a gun to 21 and created universal background checks. None of the legislation received a committee hearing.

Merideth said that he’s not sure if his bills would pass the current Missouri legislature, but that they could pass through a ballot initiative.

“I think that they’re popular in our state. And I think if we could gather the signatures, they all have a path to pass. On a political level right now, I don’t see a realistic way for any of these to pass,” Merideth said.

Merideth was the latest guest on Politically Speaking. Here’s what else he talked about on the show:

• This year’s state budget, including the budget vetoes issued by Republican Gov. Mike Parson. Merideth said the last two budgets are the best he’s seen as a House member. However, he said more can be done, including further raising teacher and state worker pay.
• A new committee established by House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, examining the earnings tax in St. Louis and Kansas City and personal property taxes. Merideth said the emphasis on taxes from Republicans is directly related to the fact that 2024 is an election year.
• Whether or not Missouri Republicans will again try to make it harder to amend the Missouri Constitution next session. Last year, Republicans were unable to come to a consensus over what that proposed change should be.
• Competing proposals from abortion activists that would roll back Missouri’s ban on abortion. Merideth also weighed in on the likelihood of any of the proposals getting enough signatures in time and making it onto the 2024 ballot.

Voters first elected Merideth to serve in the House in 2016. He represents the 80th District, which includes parts of south and central St. Louis. Due to term limits, the 2024 session will be Merideth’s last as a state representative.