Governor Kehoe Calls Special Session

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe called a special session of the Missouri Legislature, the Missouri Independent reported Friday. 

The first measure would be to break up the Kansas City congressional district into three sections. It is currently held by Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, a Democrat. The objective is to create seven Republican held districts and one Democratic held district. The risk is that it would make current Republican-held districts, including the 6th district held by Rep. Sam Graves, more competitive since a lot more Kansas City voters would be voting in the 6th district under this plan.

The move is part of an arms race between Democratic governors and President Donald Trump in an effort to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the 2026 Congressional elections. The US House is currently narrowly held by Republicans. California, a Democratic state, and Texas, a Republican state, are pursuing similar measures.

The other measure being considered in the Missouri legislature is initiative petition reform. Currently, Constitutional Amendments placed on the ballot require a simple majority to pass. The legislature is seeking to put a Constitutional Amendment on the Missouri ballot for November 2026 requiring a majority vote in all eight congressional districts in order to change the Missouri Constitution in addition to a majority vote statewide. Propositions, such as the Minimum Wage law that passed in 2024, would still require a simple majority, but could be amended or repealed by the legislature.

Opinion -- Graves Bill Would Amend Rails to Trails Program

 

By Cong. Sam Graves Office

Congressman Sam Graves (MO-06) introduced the Rails to Trails Landowner Rights Act today. The bill strengthens landowner rights to stop federal land seizures.

“Our right to own property, to farm, and to provide for our families is sacred,” said Graves. “The Founding Fathers sought to protect landowners from government land grabs with the Fifth Amendment. Sadly, Washington bureaucrats don’t seem to miss an opportunity to go after our rights. They’ve got to be held accountable so we can protect landowner rights and stop these federal land grabs.”

The Rails to Trails Landowner Rights Act reigns in the Surface Transportation Board’s Rails to Trails program, which allows the federal government to take former railroad corridors and give those corridors to third parties for use as recreational trails. This broken process violates the constitutional rights of landowners and unfairly cuts them out of the process. Graves’ legislation would require trail sponsors to get sign off from all impacted landowners and fully compensate landowners when a project moves forward.

The Rails to Trails Landowner Rights Act is cosponsored by Reps. Virginia Foxx (NC-05), Ann Wagner (MO-02), Mark Alford (MO-04), Harriet Hageman (WY-AL), and Bob Onder (MO-03). 

What They Are Saying:

Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins:

“Missouri Farm Bureau has long stood up for the rights of property owners, and we remain concerned about the impact of the federal Rails to Trails program, which can convert unused rail corridors into public trails without the consent of those who own the land. Safeguarding private property rights is fundamental to our mission. We commend Chairman Graves for his unwavering commitment to ensuring landowners have a voice in these decisions. As this legislation moves forward, we are eager to collaborate with Chairman Graves, his colleagues in Congress, and an expanding coalition of supporters who share our dedication to protecting property rights and finding common ground on this important issue.”

 

Opinion -- Proposed Medicaid Cuts Threaten Rural Healthcare

By Amy Blouin, President & CEO, Missouri Budget Project

June 13, 2025 — Medicaid means health insurance for rural Missourians. Rural hospitals and health clinics rely on Medicaid payments to keep their doors open.

But Congress is now rushing through a tax package that would eliminate Medicaid coverage for tens of thousands of rural Missourians and hurt their communities. Our U.S. senators need to stop this rush to avoid doing a lot of harm in rural areas.

Across Missouri, the consequences of Medicaid cuts go beyond individuals’ access to health care, and the harm to rural residents is multiplied.

When communities lose hospitals and health clinics, it means the loss of good-paying health care jobs. That hurts the local economy at a time when rural communities are already struggling.

This ripples into waves of poor community health, unemployment, population loss and a bleak future. It winds up driving people away from places they call home.

House-approved legislation in Washington, which awaits Senate consideration later this month, cuts Medicaid by $800 billion nationally. The proposal creates new mountains of red tape and harsh work requirements. It imposes obstacles so steep that eligible people, including working families, will lose coverage.

Here in Missouri, those cuts would take health care away from 170,000 Missourians, including children, older adults, patients with serious health conditions and disabilities, veterans, and low-paid workers. 

Missourians already struggle to get and keep Medicaid because our state enrollment and eligibility systems can’t keep up and are already very restrictive on participation. It takes much longer for our state to process applications, and Missourians routinely lose coverage for so-called “procedural reasons,” like accidentally leaving a space blank on a form, or a typo.

Folks trying to reach someone at the state’s call centers frequently face wait times of almost an hour - that is, if they don’t have to hang up the phone to go back to work, care for kids and seniors, or cook a meal.

New red tape would multiply these challenges, with Missourians having to file piles of paperwork every month to prove their activities or demonstrate why they are exempt. Rural Missourians would face even bigger obstacles to complying because of things like slow internet speeds, demanding work schedules, and having farther to travel.

For financially struggling rural hospitals, health clinics and nursing homes, cuts to Medicaid could force shutdowns, leaving everyone in those communities without access to senior or prenatal care, even basic care or emergency rooms. Already, rural Missourians are forced to travel long distances just to get the care they need. In a crisis, that delay can be deadly.

Even if Missourians can make it through Medicaid’s bureaucratic maze, their coverage would still be at risk when they most need it. For example, a cashier doesn’t get enough hours one pay period because business is slow. With the bill’s new work requirements, slow weeks would cost her health care coverage.

Or imagine a 56-year-old widow who stayed home with her children and helped watch her grandkids until they started kindergarten – she was able to get health coverage after Missouri approved Medicaid expansion. She looks for a job, but struggles to find work because of age discrimination. She would lose her health care under the legislation’s tough work requirements.

When Missourians like these can’t get health care, they and their families struggle. But we all pay the price.

When that cashier can’t pay for the medicine to control her high blood pressure and has a heart attack, or the grandmother doesn’t get an annual check-up that would have detected a cancer early, what would have been lower-priced prevention or treatment became an expensive health crisis. And when hospitals and clinics have to absorb more uncompensated care, those costs are passed on to us all through higher health care costs and insurance premiums.

Extra bureaucratic requirements don’t increase employment and don’t help struggling Missourians make ends meet. But they do eliminate health coverage and increase costs, make life harder for working families, and hurt rural communities.

Missouri’s U.S. senators will hopefully join a majority of their colleagues in stopping this impending train wreck of Medicaid slashing. Rural Missourians’ lives and indeed the survival of rural communities hang in the balance.

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The Missouri Budget Project is a nonprofit public policy analysis organization that analyzes state budget, tax, and economic issues.

Congressman Sam Graves -- Bill Would Modernize Transportation, Cut Waste

By Congressman Sam Graves’ Office

The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, led by Chairman Sam Graves (MO-06), approved its budget reconciliation proposal to secure the border, support President Trump’s national security agenda, and modernize America’s air traffic control system. These investments will be more than offset by slashing funding for Green New Deal style programs, requiring electric vehicles (EVs) begin paying for their use of the highway system just like other highway users, and other deficit reduction measures. The T&I Committee will now send its proposal, which reduces the deficit by more than $10 billion, to the House Budget Committee.

“The Committee took decisive action in support of the President’s America First agenda,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (MO-06). “My bill cuts wasteful Green New Deal spending and ensures that electric vehicles finally start paying for the maintenance of our roads and bridges. We also approved historic investments in the United States Coast Guard to strengthen our national and border security, and we took equally important strides towards finally modernizing the nation’s outdated air traffic control system. ”

Chairman Graves’ proposal would reduce federal spending and deficits by rescinding unobligated funds and eliminating seven unnecessary Green New Deal style programs created in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Those programs include the Neighborhood Access and Equity Grants, Environmental Review Implementation Funds, and Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Grants under the Federal Highway Administration, among others. 

The proposal ensures that electric vehicles pay to fix our roads and bridges like other vehicles. The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is funded by user-fees. However, since EVs do not use gas, they do not pay the user fee, and this inequity contributes to a growing shortfall in the funds to repair roads and bridges across the country.

Chairman Graves proposal provides additional investments in the U.S. Coast Guard to protect national security and secure our maritime borders. It gives the Coast Guard the tools it needs to better protect our borders, stopping illegal immigrants and drugs from entering the country, and protect our national and economic security in the Arctic, where competitors such as China and Russia are aggressively expanding their activities.

It also invests in the improved safety and reliability of America’s air traffic control (ATC) system, replacing outdated ATC technology, modernizing the ATC system, and enhancing the hiring of air traffic controllers following several aviation tragedies in recent months, which are priorities of the President and DOT Secretary Duffy.

 

Opinion -- Massive Budget Cuts Threaten Healthcare, Food Security

By the Missouri Budget Project

Thursday’s passage of the federal budget resolution in the U.S. House paves the way for Congress to rush through massive federal changes that would result in Missourians losing health insurance, food assistance, and other support. These plans would essentially offload massive federal responsibilities onto our state, forcing harmful tradeoffs and deep service cuts.

If enacted, the proposals would slash federal support for health care, food assistance, education, and other priorities—while offering trillions of dollars in tax cuts to the wealthy. About half of the cost of extending the 2017 tax changes goes to tax cuts for the top five percent of earners.

While Missouri families would pay the price of the cuts – with parents forced to skip meals so their kids can eat, people unable to afford life-saving prescriptions, and students packed into overcrowded classrooms – Missouri legislators would be left holding the bag, expected to plug massive funding holes with strained budgets and limited revenue tools.

“Regardless of the smoke and mirrors, these are cuts. Cuts that will make it harder for Missourians to afford health care and feed their kids, and cuts that could make it harder for Missouri to keep rural schools open,” said Amy Blouin, President and CEO of Missouri Budget Project, a nonprofit public policy analysis organization that analyzes state budget, tax, and economic issues. “The federal government is passing the buck, and state lawmakers will face dire choices.”

Under Congressional proposals at play, Missouri could lose upwards of $2 billion in federal funding each year:

●      Medicaid: Missouri could lose up to $2 billion in federal funding under proposals being discussed in Congress.

●      Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP): If Missouri were required to pay just 10% of SNAP benefits, we would face an additional $150 million cost.

●      Education and Public Services: Deep cuts to federal education funds, housing supports, and child care would force Missouri to either backfill federal dollars or cut essential local services.

Missouri lawmakers would still be required to enact a balanced state budget, despite huge federal funding losses. Doing so would require massive budget cuts, likely some combination of cuts to health coverage – with impacts concentrated among low-income people and families, older adults, and people with disabilities who otherwise would not be able to afford health care, education, and other services.

“These proposals would devastate state budgets and families alike,” said Blouin. “Our state is already facing growing budget challenges, and these cuts would hit a time of deep economic uncertainty.”

In the coming weeks, Congress will begin fleshing out its proposals.

“Our Congressional delegation has a choice. They can reject tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and invest in Missouri families, healthy communities, and a federal-state partnership that works for all of us.”

The Missouri Budget Project is a nonprofit public policy analysis organization that analyzes state budget, tax, and economic issues.

 

Nodaway County Candidates Forum

During the Nodaway County Fair, the Maryville Chamber of Commerce sponsored a candidates’ forum and drew a big crowd into the courtroom. Common themes were the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, the willingness to work across the aisle, and the ability to get Washington DC and Jefferson City to listen to this corner of the state. 

US SENATE

Paul Venable, Constitution Party

Mr. Venable, who also came to the Worth County candidates forum late in June, paid a return visit to the area. He said that everything is about blue vs. red, “But who is fighting for us?” He asked. 

He said the problem is that the Constitution is not read or used. For instance, he said that the Constitution does not authorize foreign governments to own land, referring to the Smithfield operation. He said that too many foreign corporations were getting away with owning land and hiring people who were not Americans. 

He said the solution to the country’s problems is going back to the Constitution. For instance, Congress has specific powers, but drugs were not one of them. “What I feel about not them might not be the same as the people and the legislatures,” he said. Meanwhile, he said, nobody was protecting the borders. 

Another case in point was abortion. He said that the recent Supreme Court decision reversing Roe was correctly decided because it was an issue for the states. On a personal level, he said children were a blessing; he noted that he has a child with Down’s Syndrome who can milk goats and help on the family farm and is productive as anyone else. 

If elected, Mr. Venable said he would seek to remove President Joe Biden from office under Amendment 14, Section 3, which states that no person may hold any office under the United States shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the country or given aid and comfort to its enemies. “If we don’t act, we could get to unrecoverable Constitutional violations,” he said. 

Dave Sims, Republican

Mr. Sims said the country needs to elect persons who care about We the People, not career politicians. He said that if elected, he would have regular town hall meetings with the people. 

“My campaign is all about bringing people together,” he said. He said that while Joe Biden was causing division, he was a peacemaker and would vote like one. “My dad always taught me to listen to both sides,” he said. When he was little, Mr. Sims said he didn’t appreciate that, but that now he has taken his dad’s lesson to heart. 

On a personal level, Mr. Sims said that his brother had a Down’s Syndrome child, and that not being a woman, it was hard to imagine what pregnancy was like. He said that the recent Supreme Court decision was correctly decided, since it gave the abortion issue back to the states. 

“I’m not a career politician,” said Mr. Sims. “I support term limits. When the Founding Fathers served, they went back home when they were done and let someone else serve. I believe in following the Constitution.”

US CONGRESS, 6TH DISTRICT

Brandon Kleinmeyer, Republican

Mr. Kleinmeyer pledged to uphold conservative values and research issues before voting on them. “There is too much partisan behavior in Washington,” he said. If he’s elected and the GOP retains its majority, he said they could block Joe Biden from making things worse. “My values do matter, but I can’t ignore yours,” he said. 

He recently took a four day trip across the 6th District, which now constitutes the entire northern part of the state. “Everyone has their own values,” he said. “I have to see where the peoples’ values lie and work with it. I would cross the aisle for good reason, not for weird reasons like Red Flag laws.” If elected, Mr. Kleinmeyer said he would turn his website into a forum so he could hear from his constituents. 

On Roe, Mr. Kleinmeyer said that the state level was the right place to decide the abortion issue. “It’s complicated, and I’m not a woman,” he said. “We, as federal candidates, should not even be involved. The only reason it’s even an issue is so that liberals can get a platform.” While he says he supports exceptions for rape, incest, and the woman’s life being in danger, he said, “It’s not a federal issue anymore, and that’s a good thing.”

Mr. Kleinmeyer added, “If you don’t like the abortion laws of your state, change whose running the state.”

One hot issue for Mr. Kleinmeyer was taxes. He said that as a tax professional by trade, he wanted to overhaul the tax code. He noted that under Donald Trump, there were a lot of good measures put in, but that they were temporary. “With inflation, the last thing we need is our taxes going up,” he said. 

Charles West, Democratic

Charles West, who visited Albany back in June, paid a return visit to the area. He said he was born on a family farm and raised cattle, pigs, and horses. He works on factory floors at union shops. “It’s not about me; it’s about everyone,” he said. He said that he drove 1,200 miles in two days as part of his job and while campaigning for the seat. “It costs me $100 every time I fill up,” he said. 

While the US actually has some of the cheapest gas in the world, it could always do more, starting with pressuring corporations to use the 9,000 leases that are unused. “We have all these corporations that are making $100 billion a quarter,” he said. Recently, The Guardian noted that big oil companies have been making an estimated $3 billion a day since 1970. “Step up and put pressure on the big oil companies,” he said. “Work together for once.”

Mr. West pledged to do what was right for the people he would serve, not answer to those in power. “Everyone has their own values. I’ll work with everyone. This can go for everything,” he said.

He said that incumbent Republican Sam Graves, who is seeking reelection this year, has been in power for too long, having served for 22 years. “He’s never worked for us,” charged Mr. West. “He’s as extreme as you can get. That’s why we need a change.” 

On the abortion issue, Mr. West said he was 100% pro-choice. He said that the day Roe vs. Wade was overturned, he got tearful calls from his daughter and fiancee, who were fearful that their rights were being stripped away. “It’s not a liberal issue, but a human issue,” he said. Mr. West said the meaning of the 14th Amendment, which gives civil rights to all persons “born in the US,” was clear. If elected, Mr. West said he would work to codify Roe vs. Wade into law. “Nobody tells me what I can do. Everyone is telling a woman and her doctor what they can and can’t do,” he said.

After running successfully for school board in 2020, Mr. West won and ran again successfully in 2022. “I’ve worked hard my whole life,” he said. “You’ll see my signs next to Trump signs. I’ll work with everyone from the working class to the upper class. That’s what I do on a daily basis,” he said.

Henry Martin, Democratic

Having seen the Berlin Wall fall and having worked in the Great Flood of 1993, Mr. Martin said, “When bad things happen, when good people stand by, we’re just as responsible,” he said. Mr. Martin is making his third run for Congress this year. “Some appeal only to one side or the other. Governance happens when we compromise,” he said.

Mr. Martin has been practicing what he has been preaching. He doesn’t know a stranger and engaged in a good conversation with John Dady, one of the most conservative candidates that evening, before the forum started. 

He said that he wanted to increase pressure on the corporations for inflation. “We’re blaming the politicians, but we’re not putting pressure on the corporations. Pressure them to justify their price increases,” said Mr. Martin.

“My job is to be loyal to the people in this room,” said Mr. Martin. “I don’t always agree with Joe Biden. My values don’t matter; it’s a matter of what the people want done. That’s my responsibility. When it concerns the district, I will speak truth to power.”

One of Mr. Martin’s main causes was ending gerrymandering. He said that it had gotten so precise, the most extreme candidates were winning. He said that as an educator, he had to reach a consensus. “That’s the kind of person I am,” he said. “Build coalitions and find common ground”

On the reversal of Roe, Mr. Martin said that he opposed it and wanted to see abortion safe, legal, and rare. In addition, he wanted to see contraception made free. Like his primary opponent, Charles West, he said he wanted to codify Roe vs. Wade into law if elected. He said he did not want to go back to the days when women would drink turpentine to end their pregnancies. “The Constitution is supposed to protect rights. This is completely wrong,” he said.

“I’m an individual willing to represent this area from Platte County to Worth County,” said Mr. Martin. “Every one of you matters. We are supposed to be governed, not ruled. When only one view is represented, the rest of us are subjects.”

John Dady, Republican

Mr. Dady describes himself as a spiritual warrior. “I’m my own man. I agree with a lot of what Donald Trump did. I’m against the China agreement and NAFTA,” he said, referring to the free trade agreements that the US signed in the 1990’s. 

He said the problem in this country is that there is too much apathy. “I’m a fighter. I will not try to negotiate with someone who is against the Constitution,” he said. “Extremism is messing with our food supply and power generation. We cannot supply power for the Green New Deal. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should go back to bartending.”

Mr. Dady said that the Supreme Court decision to reverse Roe was the correct one and that based on personal experience, he was opposed to abortion except when the life of the woman was in danger. He said that if claims of rape or incest were allowed, such claims and cases would skyrocket.

If elected, Mr. Dady said he would cut taxes to where the first $100,000 in income was not taxable. “The government wouldn’t even miss it,” he said. “We spend our own money better than the government.” Another change he said he would like to see was to limit bills to 10 pages. “My cat could do better than that,” he said.

STATE SENATE DISTRICT 12

Delus Johnson, Republican

Mr. Johnson touted his 100% voting record from the American Conservative Union while serving in the Missouri House. He said that as a businessman, he wanted to reduce business operating expenses if elected and streamline the corporate registration process. He pledged to support the 2nd Amendment, which he called the biggest deterrent to crime. He said he was opposed to red flag laws and that he was pro-life, saying that life begins at conception.

He said that he supported efforts in the Missouri Senate to filibuster over the redistricting process in an effort to get a 7-1 Republican majority for the state. He said he would also filibuster against any tax increases, even if the Senate President supports it. 

Despite his hardcore conservative credentials, Mr. Johnson said that he had a proven track record of building coalitions as House Majority Whip and would use his position to bridge gaps if elected. 

Mr. Johnson said he wanted to reign in the size of state government. “When I left, the budget was $26 billion a year,” he said. “It’s doubled in five years.” In addition, he said he wanted to give businesses every possible tool to thrive, cut down on regulations, and increase teacher salaries.

Endorsed by the Missouri Right to Life, Mr. Johnson pledged to review bills to ensure that there was no language helping stem cell research or allowing abortions, except to save the life of the mother. “If there is something in a bill that destroys life, I will filibuster it,” he pledged. 

Rusty Black, Republican

Mr. Black talked about his background. He was a teacher at Nodaway-Holt for 5 years and Chillicothe for 28 years for a total of 33 years. In addition, he lives on a small farm and raises cattle. He said that he would be a conservative voice, and that he would be a team player. He opposed the filibusters in the Senate this year. “Too many good bills died,” he said. If elected, he pledged he would have an open door policy for his office and treat people with courtesy and respect.

He talked about the No Patient Left Behind bill that passed the legislature, which allows family members to visit patients in hospitals. 

Mr. Black said he supports returning Career Ladder and predicted that the $38,000 minimum salary grant that was passed this year would stay for a while. “We fully funded the Foundation Formula and transportation. If we can keep money coming in, we will keep moving forward.” 

He said that he was 100% pro-life and that he wanted to help bring money back home to the area. “If we work together, we can do it,” he said, citing the recent highway funds.

J. Eggleston, Republican

Mr. Eggleston said that he was one of the most conservative voices in the House this year, but that he would not have joined the Conservative Caucus’ filibusters. He said he was a part of it at one time and respected their support for Constitutional principles. “But then new people came along and it got too argumentative,” he said. “I’m not about strife. I want to be your voice.”

He said that his goal was for people to be heard, understood, and listened to. “I’m committed to treat people the way you would want to be treated. It’s worked well for my business and in the Capitol,” said Mr. Eggleston, who represents District 2 and is being term limited out this year. “I’ve found people return that respect. It can’t be my way or the highway.”

Asked about the teacher salaries, Mr. Eggleston said the budget was bloated and had grown over the years, especially with the federal government printing money to deal with COVID. “Now, we have to streamline government,” he said.

He said that he was pro-life and touted the endorsement of Missourians for Life. Mr. Eggleston said that as a grandfather, by the time a fetus is 44 days before the due date, or 44 minutes before birth, they are every bit a person. On a personal level, he said he lost one child due to an ectopic pregnancy and another due to a miscarriage. “We consider them ours like we do the rest of our children,” he said.

Mr. Eggleston said it was an incredible honor to be the 2nd District State Representative and said he was proud of the stand he has taken against corrupt politicians; the committee he chaired in the House expelled three. “I’m going to look out for the people back home, like I’ve done for the last eight years. I will never forget where I came from,” he said.

MISSOURI HOUSE DISTRICT 1

Michelle Horner, Republican

Horner said that as a mother whose son took his own life in 2020, she wanted to fight for children. “I’ve fought for 13 years to get rid of No Child Left Behind,” she said, referring to the high stakes testing regime passed by the Bush Administration in the mid-2000’s. “One thing God put us here to do was to protect our children.

She said it wasn’t a matter of Critical Race Theory, but about us. “This is our future. This is our time. If nothing changes, there will be no more small towns. It starts on the local level,” she said.

If elected, Horner said she would never compromise the US Constitution and would take into consideration what people wanted. “This is personal because of my son. Nobody knew how to help him. I had no place to go. Not even a support group with other parents. We can put people in schools and law enforcement to help,” she said.

She said that she was pro-life and that it came back to personal responsibility. “We have a responsibility to know that a life could happen. When I found out I was pregnant, I loved my son at first sight,” she said.

Jessica Piper, Democratic

Jessica Piper pledged to build bridges with people and to always represent the area. “I’m a dirt road Democrat, so the way I vote would be different from what the Democrats in Kansas City or St. Louis would vote,” she said.

Based on personal experience, she said she wanted to see more healthcare services, especially mental health services. “There is a huge lack of mental health services here,” she said. “It’s very difficult to access. We’re lacking funding, rural hospitals are closing, and people are having to drive farther.”

She said she never wanted to use religion to write laws. She said that if that happened, the next question was, “Which religion?” “There are many people here who are not religious; I have to represent them too,” said Piper. 

Piper attacked what she saw as the hypocrisy of state policy towards abortion. “There are 14,000 kids in state custody,” she said. “What are you going to do for the born?” She said that the problem with not allowing abortion in the case of rape is that rape was the most underreported crime in the country. “There are many women suffering from trauma. I’m for local control whether it’s regarding the uterus, families, businesses, or schools,” said Piper. “Abortion should be between a woman and her doctor.”

She said that after 20 years of the Republican Party in power at the state level, it was time for a change. “Our schools are falling apart and are being forced to go to four day weeks. We have bad roads, CAFO’s. And it’s happened over a long period of time. It’s time to try something different.” 

Alan Bennett, Republican

Mr. Bennett talked about his service in the US Army for 31 years. He also taught for one year and worked for the Missouri DOT, where he helped inspect local roads. “I don’t have all the answers, but I want to find ways to make things happen,” he said. 

As a conservative Christian, Mr. Bennett said that he would be guided by the Bible, the Constitution, and then his Constituents. His slogan is, “Representing You.” On mental health, he said he wanted to have programs that coordinate families with law enforcement agencies. He said that he would start on any given policy by talking to people. “I’m representing you, and that’s how I’ll vote,” he said.

He said the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe was correctly decided and that he supported the current Missouri law banning abortion except in cases of medical emergency.

Mr. Bennett pledged to be a problem solver in the House. He spent his career in the Army briefing colonels and generals. He pledged not to fall prey to big donors, special interests, or blindly follow the party line. He pledged to continue his calling to public service. “It’s what I’ve done all my life,” he said.

Jeff Farnan, Republican

Jeff Farnan has logged many miles on the trail looking for votes, having knocked on over 3,409 doors so far as of two weeks ago. He has worked for the Spec Shoppe and served on the Jefferson School Board. He said he was pro-life and pro gun and pledged to keep the area safe with strong police. He pledged to listen to people who had concerns, even when he didn’t agree with them. He pledged to reach across the aisle. “If a Democrat has a good idea, I’m all for it,” he said.

On mental health, Mr. Farnan said he wanted to see more funding for school counselors. “Many are only part time,” he said. “A good counselor can change a troubled kid.”

He said he was running because this was a great place to live and he wanted to keep it that way. “I’ve worked hard all my life at everything I do,” he said.

Holly Cronk

Cronk has been organizing Maryville, a place she has called home for the last 37 years, a lot in recent years. When COVID hit, she and a group of people sat down and made masks for people free of charge, funded only by donations. She did a lawn service, organized the Maryville Farmers Market, and has fundraised for many projects around town.

“We all share the same values,” she said. She pledged to listen to the people who put her in office. 

She said that mental health services have been at a crisis level in the area especially since COVID hit. She says it starts with families, and then ways to access. She praised the formation of the Mental Health Task Force, which will bring people together to work on mental health issues.

Cronk said she was 100% pro-life and that less than 0.5% of abortions are due to rape or incest. She said that most people have them for the wrong reasons. “The choice was already made in the bedroom,” she said. She said the issue started with personal responsibility.

She said that she was pro-gun. She said her dad was a gunsmith and that both she and her kids owned a gun. “When the AR-15 came out in the 1950’s, it wasn’t an issue,” she said. “Making me helpless is not the answer. Outlawing guns is not the answer. What’s next, outlawing knives?” She said that mental health was the answer, not gun restrictions. 

She is endorsed by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce PAC. “They endorsed me for the work I have done,” she said. She said she wanted to make this area a great place to live so that people would not have to go to St. Joseph or Kansas City.

Jasper Logan, Republican

Mr. Logan talked about his work on the Trump and Hawley campaigns. He said that if elected, he would stand for limited government and personal freedom. He pledged not to answer to the House leadership, but to the district. “I’ll vote the way I tell you I will. I answer to you,” he said. 

He said the solution to mental health or any other program was deregulation, not throwing money at problems. As an example, he said he wanted to get rid of Missouri’s Certificate of Need regulation, which is used to govern approval of healthcare applications.

He said he supported the reversal of Roe vs. Wade, calling abortion an “atrocity.”

Mr. Logan said he enjoyed hearing about what matters to people while on the campaign trail. “I won’t back down when it comes to my votes,” he said.

Defense Bill Gives Troops Pay Raise, Aids Rosecrans

The US House Friday passed a bipartisan defense bill that went beyond President Donald Trump’s requested increase. It passed by a vote of 344-81. It must now pass the Senate, which is working on its own version of the defense bill. The two bills must be reconciled and then sent to the President for his signature or veto. The total price tag is $696 billion, which is also beyond sequestration limits that were set in 2011.

Congressman Sam Graves, who voted for the bill, noted in a news release that the bill contains the biggest pay raise for soldiers in eight years, with a 2.4% increase. The bill would also allow the Pentagon to recruit new personnel and modernize the Air National Guard’s C-130H fleet. Rosecrans Airport, in St. Joseph, houses many of the nation’s C-130H planes.

In a separate release Friday, Senator Roy Blunt said that the Senate version, which passed unanimously out of committee, said that one priority was $10 million to Rosecrans to construct a communications facility there.

Increasing military spending had been one of President Trump’s main campaign promises on the trail last year. One of his favorite lines was, “We’re going to build a military so big, nobody’s going to mess with us.”

US House Passes Bill to Require Background Checks for School Employees

A bill which passed the US House by voice vote Tuesday would require background checks for prospective school employees. There are already background check requirements in Missouri and most states. However, the stated purpose is to create uniform standards. The title of the bill is the "Protecting Students from Sexual and Violent Predators Act."
All schools that receive federal funding, including Worth County and Northeast Nodaway, would be required to conduct checks that consist of a search of the state criminal registry in the state where the prospective employee resides and has previously resided, a search of state-based child abuse and neglect registries, an FBI fingerprint check, and a search of the National Sex Offender Registry.
The law, if passed by the Senate and signed by President Obama, would prohibit the employment of an individual as a school employee if such individual refuses to consent to a criminal background check, makes a false statement in connection with such criminal background check, or has been convicted of homicide, child abuse or neglect, crimes against children including child pornography, spousal abuse, crimes involving rape or sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, physical assault, battery, or a drug-related offense committed within five years of such individual's criminal background check. Prospective employees would be disqualified if they have been convicted of any other crime that is a violent or sexual crime against a minor.
Should schools find out that an individual who is disqualified under this law is attempting to apply as a school employee, they would be required to contact law enforcement that such individual has so applied. Criminal background checks would be required to be done again at least once every five years. This is to prevent employees from concealing conviction for a crime in order to avoid being terminated. Each employee who has had a check is required to be provided with a copy of the check. Schools would be required to provide for a timely process for appeal so prospective employees can challenge the accuracy of findings under this law.
This law applies not only to school employees, but employees of other organizations that have a contract to provide services to a school and whose job duty results in access to students.
Rep. George Miller (D-CA), one of the main sponsors of the bill, said on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce website that the General Accounting Office (GAO) found numerous instances in which convicted sex offenders working in schools had targeted children. The GAO found that inconsistent state laws meant that there were major gaps in protection for children. This resulted in schools unknowingly hiring sexual predators. In other cases, the GAO found cases where the school would knowingly allow such an individual to resign instead of reporting them to law enforcement.
"We owe it to our children and their families and to the honorable school officials who follow the rules to ensure that violent adults do not have access to students in our public schools," said Miller on the website.  "Parents have a right to expect that their children are safe in schools and schools have an obligation to fulfill that promise."
During the debate, the one Congressman to express reservations about the bill was Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), who expressed reservations about the lifetime ban provision. He said in the Congressional Record, “I think it is important that we recognize that when we put barriers to employment that are lifetime bans, that are not sensitive to certain realities as relates to people overcoming criminal backgrounds, and when we put prophylactic rules that don’t account for particular offenses in a nuanced way, we do run the risk of doing a good thing, but doing too much of a thing, and thereby leading to some unexpected and unwanted results.”
The West Memphis Three were three men who were wrongfully convicted of child murders that prosecutors said was part of a satanic ritual in 1993. However, after new forensic evidence surfaced that exonerated them in 2007, the Three struck a plea bargain with prosecutors in 2011 that allowed them to be sentenced for time served as well as 10-year suspended sentences. They entered what is known as an Alford Plea, meaning that they maintained their innocence while acknowledging that the prosecutors had enough evidence to convict them. One of the Memphis Three, Damien Echols, spoke at Northwest Missouri State about his experiences recently. Echols was in death row at one point. Three movies and numerous books were made and written about their case, mostly critical of the prosecution. The popular music group Metallica allowed their music to be used in the movies, one of the few times they have done so.

Claire McCaskill Opinion: Ending Pork-Barrel Spending, Once and for all

by Senator Claire McCaskill

When I arrived in the Senate six years ago, I said no to earmarks, and began the fight to end them. There weren’t many of us who held that position then, but over the last several years, we’ve made a lot of progress. Slowly but surely, we’re changing the culture of Congress to one where members are not judged based on how much taxpayer money they spend, but rather on how much they can save.

Now is the time, while we’re focused on cutting wasteful spending, to make our temporary ban on earmarks a permanent one. Last week, I reintroduced legislation with my Republican colleague Pat Toomey that I know Missourians support: a bill that ends the earmarking practice once and for all.

When rallying support against earmarked spending, I’ve often found allies across party lines. In 2009, I teamed up with South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint to fight for a moratorium on earmarks. That year I also worked with Senator John McCain to make it easier to remove earmarks from existing legislation. In the last Congress, Senator  Toomey and I proposed the Earmark Elimination Act—which we’re reintroducing this week—to permanently ban pet projects. I’ve also called on my own party's leaders to remove earmarks from Congressional legislation.

All along, my message to my colleagues was simple—when we’re talking about investments in America’s infrastructure, resources need to be awarded based on merit and competition, not based on who you are and who you know.

It’s clear that our message has broken through, as Congress placed a moratorium on Congressional earmarks in 2010. After years of hard work, the multi-billion dollar gravy train had finally stopped.

But predictably, some in Congress have had a hard time staying away from this process.

In 2011, we found that while many members of the U.S. House came to Congress promising fiscal discipline, they had inserted 115 earmarks into the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have cost taxpayers a staggering $854 million. After I rallied public pressure against this outrageous, wasteful hypocrisy, they retreated and stripped the earmarks out of the legislation.

More than once over the past five years I have been advised by colleagues and supporters to focus my attention elsewhere—to accept the ways of Washington and go along to get along. But during my time as Jackson County Prosecutor, Missouri State Auditor, and U.S. Senator, I’ve fought for change without backing down. I’ve fought to strengthen transparency, and raise the level of accountability in Washington.

Missourians didn’t send me to the Senate to tackle the easy stuff. They want their elected leaders to work day and night on the tough issues. I’ve never sought an earmark and I’ll stay devoted to permanently ending the earmarking practice until it is completely abolished.

Claire McCaskill, a former Missouri State Auditor, was reelected to a second term in the U.S. Senate in November.