JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Lawmakers and state politicos joined This WeeK In Missouri Politics this week to discuss a coming debate on a school transfer bill, a new approach to the state budget, a ballot issue in Springfield, Missouri, and more.
Sen. Joseph Keavney, Senate Minority Leader and a St. Louis Democrat, told host Scott Faughn that he wasn’t thrilled about Sen. Kurt Schaefer’s new approach to the budget from his position as chair of Appropriations. Schaefer’s move to fund some state agencies through bulk sums rather than line-by-line appropriations has some lawmakers fuming.
“We’re abdicating our responsibility,” Keaveny said. “By letting that be sorted out in conference, I don’t believe that’s the best approach.”
Keavney ultimately said he didn’t believe Schaefer’s new approach would survive debate in the House and conference committees on the budget.
An opinion maker panel — featuring ProgressMissouri’s Sean Nicholson, Stinson Leonard’s Jane Dueker, David Barklage of Barklage & Knodell, and former gubernatorial candidate, Dave Spence — discussed the budget, a controversial vote in Springfield, the landscape of the 2016 elections, and much more.
Some highlights from the show:
“This is the Republican budget,” Barklage said. “Whether you like it or you don’t like it, candidly, this is the Republican budget. Republicans cut taxes last year, they’ve not raised taxes, yet they end up with the largest surplus of the last decade at$75 million.”
“I think at the end of the day what matters most is the policy that goes home and how it impacts families at their kitchen tables, and there’s not a whole lot of interest in the palace intrigue of who is talking to you,” Nicholson said. “They want to see the results and what happens to their kitchen tables.”
“There’s a lot of finger pointing and name calling,” Spence said. “We need to come together as Missourians. We’re not showing our best self. This budget battle and the he said, she said, it’s not what’s best for our state.”
“The city council steps up in Springfield and does the right thing and we start to look like a state that looks out for all Missourians and we’re putting all this pettiness behind us, and then you have these church groups come in, and it turns into a religious battle,” Dueker said. “I’m not sure that that’s great…It makes us look like we’re in the middle of this culture war while Rome is burning.”
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
