In late February, Missouri Treasurer Vivek Malek ordered the removal of stickers placed by his office on unregulated gaming machines that advertised the state’s unclaimed property program.

That decision came swiftly after a House committee hearing where Republicans and Democrats criticized Malek for authorizing the ads.

Rep. Scott Cupps, R-Shell Knob, who chairs the committee that questioned Malek, is the latest guest on St. Louis Public Radio’s Politically Speaking. He said it wasn’t his intent for the hearing to be adversarial.

“I just wanted actual raw answers to the questions that we had like, ‘Who authorized this?’ ‘When was it authorized?’ ‘Whose idea was it?” Cupps said.

Here’s what else Cupps talked about on the program:

• His background prior to becoming a member of the House.
• Serving on the House Budget Committee, which he says is a lot more work than he initially believed it would be.
• Criticism from some Republicans that the budget has gotten too big.

Cupps represents the 158th House District, which includes parts of Barry and McDonald counties.

He was first elected in 2019. Outside of the legislature, Cupps farms and ranches full time. He also taught high school agriculture education.