Saint Louis, Mo. — Senate Pro Tem Tom Dempsey joined host Scott Faughn on This Week in Missouri Politics to discuss the minimum wage, a controversial St. Louis Post-Dispatch story, the fishbowl life of public officials, and much more.
Dempsey, a St. Charles Republican, said he felt Mayor Francis Slay in St. Louis and Mayor Sly James of Kansas City were circumventing state law by pushing for an increased in “living wage” over state statute objections to raising the minimum wage.
“I don’t see why the mayors of [Kansas City and St. Louis] would need to do something beyond what we already have in place in state law,” Dempsey said. “The two biggest metropolitan areas in the state are on the boarders of the state.”
Faughn was joined by a special 5-person panel including Dan Engeman with Missouri Soybean Association, St. Louis City Treasurer Tishaura Jones, Missouri Republican Party Chairman John Hancock, senate staffer Aaron Willard, and Kurt Witzel, a Republican South St. Louis County Committeeman.
Full episodes can be streamed at twmp.tv.
Some highlights from the show:
“I’m a free market guy. I think the market should dictate what the wages are. If you look at a lot of the different studies that have been done over time, it really doesn’t have the impact that people think it’s going to have.” – Witzel, on minimum wage.
“I’m not sure what the magic number is but the real issue is income inequality. We’ve been trying to address the issues of income inequality in my staff.” – Jones, on minimum wage.
“I think it may be a federal issue. It’s a priority issue. Instead of regulating our farmers out of business, we ought to be looking at providing and making sure our country has water to drink.” – Hancock on federal regulators on the latest Clean Water Act regulations.
“Time and time again we’re looking at what government regulations are coming down. If you’re a small business owner you’re looking at how you cover your employees through healthcare. The EPA continually has problems with coal producers. Again and again, they are offering a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. The federal government often tries to come up with these solutions for things better left to the states.” – Willard on government overreach.
“Our soybean farmers are struggling to get their crop in. The federal government has given us a gift, and I’m being cynical. The federal government sought to clarify the Clean Water Act…it will greatly expand the Clean Water Act and make a lot of ditches jurisdictional. Our growers are very, very concerned.” – Engeman on farmers’ latest spat with federal regulators.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
