In an effort to provide the electorate with more information on the careers of this year’s state headquarters, News-Leader interviews applicants running for this fall on national mindsets and disorders and publishes responses.
Republican Alex Riley and Democrat Derrick Nowlin are elected this fall to 134th Room of the House, which covers South Central Springfield, from Bass Pro Shops to James River.
The outgoing president of the Republican House of Representatives, Elijah Haahr, of Springfield, has a mandate.
This is how they answered the questions, with small adjustments in duration and style, in the order in which they will appear on the ballot.
How are you?
Riley: 28.
Nowlin: 50 years.
What are you doing for work?
Riley: I’m a corporate advocate and small local businesses, hospitals, doctors, nurses and giant firms when they’re sued. As someone who survived a war on cancer as a teenager through a wonderful medical network and as the son of two nurses, I enjoy protecting the medical heroes of our network. I also enjoy working with the business network to make sure our economy can grow.
Nowlin: I have applied for a local signage company for 8 and a half years. Design plans and site layouts for developers and corporate structures to use when symptoms arise for a company. I also receive the required permissions to locate the symptoms. Before my current work, I painted in the survey/engineering chart for over 20 years. I led a research team, controlled projects, managed contracts and inspected projects. Much of the paintings I’ve done over the years have focused on public projects like roads, bridges and infrastructure. I am proud that, for much of my career, I have helped the infrastructure we use on a daily basis.
Why are you the candidate in your district?
Riley: I was born and raised in Springfield, lived in District 134 for 20 years, and, apart from a few semesters outside of law school, I’ve lived in Springfield all my life. I love our city and our state and I need Springfield to be the most productive position to start a family.
As a corporate advocate, I use the law every day for the task creators, innovators and businesses of our state. Because I work with the law and keep it every single day, I sense the legislative procedure and will be in a position to begin running for my district from day one. My delight in the courtroom and the many instances I have filed with the Missouri Court of Appeals have prepared me to face the most difficult conditions and keep me in the company of my conservative values and beliefs.
My top 3 legislative priorities are life, preserving freedom and promoting prosperity in Missouri.
Nowlin: I grew up in Springfield and spent most of my life here. This is my house. I apply because there is a deep chasm between what the state legislature is adopting and what other people in my district need. For example, this year’s abbreviated session, here are some of the expenses that were approved:
Of course, they’ve approved expenses that help others in the state, but most of the approved expenses don’t affect other people in my district or the entire state. I think we can do better.
This is my race moment for this seat. I have knocked on the door of many of my neighbors and although we disagree, sometimes we can agree. I pay attention to the adjustments they think they want made in this state and pay attention to my ideas. Together, I think we can move our state forward. My purpose is to make this a better position for the other people who live and paint there. I believe the government budgets our public school system, protects our staff, and allocates budgets to gain benefits from others, not just our state’s businesses.
What is your opinion on the state’s reaction to the coronavirus outbreak to date?
Riley: I appreciate the paintings made nationally and locally to expand the hospital’s capacity, get medical devices such as fans and PPE, and expand the tests as temporarily as possible. However, I do not agree with some of the orders issued at national and local level.
I think the “stay at home” orders were too broad and a technique aimed at helping the most vulnerable in COVID-19 would have been a better position to start. I don’t think it depends on the passing government for which corporations are “essential” and are allowed to remain open while they consider some “non-essential” and force them to close, opting for the winners and losers of the economy. It makes no sense to say that other people can shop at large retail stores like Walmart, but they can’t shop at small local businesses or move to church.
Nowlin: The state’s reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic has been woefully inadequate. Unfortunately, because the Missouri Legislature failed to expand Medicaid as required by the ACA in 2010, our health care systems are understaffed and under-equipped to deal with this crisis. More importantly, the other people who would have benefited the most from this expansion are the most affected through COVID-19.
Some of our current lawmakers have tried to approve expenses that would have halted closures, deportations and confiscations of public facilities in this crisis, but those expenditures have not even been submitted to the legislature for discussion. We now find that about 30% of Americans can’t afford last month’s rent, meaning we can face a housing crisis as severe or worse as it was in 2007-08.
We have done virtually nothing to financially help small businesses in our state and this will result in the closure of many more in the coming months. This is not only bad for the strength of our local economy, but will also lead to additional consolidation of companies, which will reduce the strength of workers and the choice of customers. Finally, if the state had a robust and consistent policy from the outset regarding maintenance orders and the use of masks, we probably wouldn’t see infection rates increase as they are. When it comes to government, where there is a will, there is a way, and our state government has shown that it does not have in mind the well-being of others through that response.
What will you do as a legislator to help the state of the epidemic in the future?
Riley: To help the state financially, I’ll focus on getting rid of government bureaucracy so Missouri innovators have the opportunity to grow the economy. I need Missouri to be the most business-friendly state in the country so that companies can open up and grow here. To do this, I will work with our local commercial home owners (and long-term commercial homeowners) to identify and eliminate destructive government regulations that prevent them from knowing their dreams. I will also fight for low taxes in Missouri so that our other people can stay and spend more of the hard-earned money in our local economy.
To help the state medically, I will work with our medical providers to make sure they have the resources they want to treat patients with COVID-19. In addition, I would like to recruit medical device brands in Missouri so that we do not have foreign countries like China for our medical supplies.
Nowlin: This pandemic has really opened our eyes to the desire to accept as true with our public establishments and a more powerful public fitness system. Right now, we are witnessing the fight between false data and messages of public fitness, resulting in a build-up of cases. We want to paint with our fitness facilities and local hospital systems so that the construction is accepted as true throughout our community. As a legislator, I think it would be incredibly useful to sponsor events between the public and our fitness service providers to minimize this lack of acceptance as true. It is vital for public protection that our society can accept as true with public fitness data and those who work on the front line to find solutions.
People who are uninsured or underinsured who end up in the hospital because of COVID-19 will face a real crisis. Medical expenses were one of the main reasons other people went bankrupted before the pandemic, and most likely to get worse. The state and the federal government have a legal responsibility to pass laws to help others with this problem. The first step is to expand Medicaid so that more people are covered, and then we want to find a solution to help those who collapse. We also want to repair attendance for families, others with disabilities, veterans and the elderly who were cut off in previous sessions.
What will you do as a legislator to minimize the effect of any economic recession on the state budget?
Riley: First, I’ll paint to reopen and revive our economy as temporarily as possible. The most productive way for the state to generate profits is through the benefits of economic growth. Eliminate employment-destroying regulations and ensure that low taxes in Missouri are key to reviving our economy.
Second, I will paint to reduce spending and reallocate dollars to high-priority spaces such as education and infrastructure.
Third, I will oppose the large, new and expensive systems of government that will charge the effective state that we frankly do not have. At a time of economic uncertainty and declining tax revenue, this is a very misplaced time for primary public spending projects.
Nowlin: It’s a difficult question to answer, not because it doesn’t have many political concepts to help us get out of this economic and public aptitude crisis, yet the consultation doesn’t start until January 2021 and we have no idea what that means. the slowdown will be similar to that of 2021. So let’s start with some of the things we know. We want income. We want them to help us overcome the final loopholes in our fiscal policy that only gain advantages for large companies. The LEGAL loophole of the LLC was intended to give companies a tax cut and inspire them to rent to more people, but that didn’t happen. Secondly, we increase taxes on large and ultra-eric companies. It’s time for them to contribute their fair percentage to help the state get out of this recession. Finally, it is vital to reduce tension in middle- and lower-class families by creating a earned source of income tax credit. Many other things can be done, such as expanding SNAP, gaining benefits and investing in public schools, and collaborating with peoples to help them help struggling with businesses in the community. We also introduce a Wayfair tax on online business.
In addition to helping Americans and their families, we want to invest in our infrastructure and public safety net. Public works programs only offer employment opportunities, but they also provide incentives for new businesses to reach the state and greater mobility for businesses to grow.
Are calls for adjustments to the justice formula of state offenders justified? If so, why and what settings do you support? If not, why not?
Riley: Some reforms to the formula of justice are warranted.
But above all, I certainly help our local law enforcement officers and strongly oppose the postponement of police funding. I’m in favor of doing more to improve accountability and make sure our police forces don’t contain rotten apples. After all, no one hates bad cops more than smart cops because they have to deal with the ramifications of bad cops. I think police cameras are a smart position to start and protect our officials and the public they serve.
With regard to other measures of corrupt justice reform, I would like to repeal mandatory minimum sentences and the attention of the crime-based election/rehabilitation bureaucracy. I would also like our correctional facilities to focus more on preparing recent inmates to succeed and become active members of society after their release.
Nowlin: I think we want corrupt judicial reform, but not as Governor Parson has been talking about recently. He recently signed an invoice pushing this reform in the wrong direction. SB 600 expands crimes that are considered crimes and eliminates the parole option for others, among others, replaces. In short, it is punitive and does not address the causes of crime, such as poverty and despair. Despite the police movements in the murders of George Floyd and Beonna Taylor, and many others, I think we want to take a look at how we control the crimes and the role of public defenders. I think we want network oversight advice that can hold departments accountable and that assistance replaces department policy. The police want to come from the network, we want to improve education and criteria for active officials and apprentices, we want a database of federal police misconduct and we want to fund systems (to) put social staff in conditions where their experience can calm a situation. without police intervention. This would be a smart start to accept construction as true in communities served through the police.
Unfortunately, for years, our budget for public protectors has been too small. This inadequacy has led our state to not have enough public protectors and for each and every public protector to run out of time to fully protect their customers. In Springfield’s justice formula, such disorders have led others to wait up to six months to get a lawyer, leading to an overcrowding of criminals. We overcharge our corrupt justice formula and prevent each and every citizen from having a fair trial.
What will you do as a legislator for the educational functionality of Missouri students?
Riley: Too often, the government applies an exclusive technique to education. This technique fails and does not take into account the unique attributes of each student. A strong public school formula is needed and public schools would arguably be the most productive selection for many, but they are not the most productive selection for all. For some, the most productive option may be home school, personal school, or denominational school. Law that is educational selection, educational innovation and empowers parents/guardians to decide the most productive option for their students.
For postsecondary education, we inspire more academics to attend a network school or trade school and avoid pushing each student to a four-year college. While universities are the right choice for some, pushing all top school graduates to a university where they’ll spend thousands of dollars on student loans hurts many of our academics.
Nowlin: Many of the disruptions faced by public schools are due to a lack of investment. Missouri ranks 45th in public school investment, and almost every year, the legislature is cutting the system. This investment uncertainty makes it incredibly difficult for schools to purchase books, rent teachers, provide additional education to teachers, or expand learning opportunities for students. We want a larger investment formula for schools that is much more flexible and allocates more cash to schools in disadvantaged socioeconomic regions.
Many Missouri teachers remain in Missouri because they love the state and its students. We also have a fair retirement plan, but our teachers have one of the lowest starting salaries in the country. It’s hard for schools to hire smart teachers when they can work seamlessly in a neighboring state.
I also know that having better access to technical courses in the best schools is not only a way to help some academics drop out of school, but also to give them the opportunity to pursue a career right after graduation. While college isn’t for everyone, having a workforce is vital to our long-term economy.
On some other front, as a society, we will have to think that broadband internet is a necessity. We have noticed through this crisis that being able to be informed online is important and outside the gates of a pandemic, academics still want to be able to study, study and take university courses at home.
Do you have the proposal to expand Medicaid in the August election? Why not? (Editor’s note: Riley and Nowlin answered this question before the electorate approved the expansion on August 4).)
Riley: I’m opposed to Medicaid expansion. The main explanation for why it will charge state cash that we simply don’t have at this time. While the federal government will pay 90% of the Medicaid expansion fee first, the remaining 10% will still charge the state with millions and millions of dollars. In many other states that have expanded Medicaid, the number of new members has far exceeded forecasts, resulting in even higher prices for those states than originally thought. At a time when our state is experiencing a decrease in tax revenue as a result of COVID-19 and the governor has already withheld nearly $450 million in government spending, adding millions of new expenses without way of paying them is irresponsible. If Medicaid expansion is approved in August, the state will have to cut investment for other priorities (probably education and infrastructure) in order to pay for it.
Nowlin: Total and totally the expansion of Medicaid. Missouriers deserve physical attention, and in the case of Medicaid expansion, they’ve already paid for it. There is no logical explanation as to why our Republican-dominated legislature refused to settle for an equivalent budget through the ACA. Since the ACA was introduced in 2010, we have paid for expansion, whether or not it benefits other people in our state. Then why didn’t Missouri adopt it? There are several explanations for why we deserve to vote Yes on 2 August. First, the economic benefits would be huge, with approximately 16,000 jobs added, $39 million added to the budget in the first year and another $1 billion by 2026. This excludes the effects on small businesses, but would ease their burden. they also provide fitness care to their employees.
In addition, another 230,000 people would gain benefits from fitness insurance when Medicaid is expanded. The effect of this alone cannot be underestimated, especially this pandemic. In more than two years, Missouri has deported more than 100,000 eligible enrollees from the existing state Medicaid system. Most of the deportees were young, which put their families in a very delicate situation. (Editor’s note: A senior Republican lawmaker told the News-Leader in January that tens of thousands of young people removed from the charts in 2018 and 2019 were probably still eligible for coverage, but a six-figure number has not yet been confirmed.)
It will also help our physical care systems and save the few remaining rural hospitals in the state. The overall result of Medicaid expansion is more jobs, more cash in our state budget, and 230,000 Missouriers will gain physical care benefits. It is a beneficial solution for Missouri families and for the entire state.
How will you address considerations about the ageing of state infrastructure?
Riley: Given the existing scenario with COVID-19, a declining economy and declining fiscal gains, we will have to be artistic in locating tactics to finance innovations in our state’s infrastructure. To do so, I will check to identify waste and overspending in other government spaces. Infrastructure should be a priority and I would recommend spending a lot of cash in the past wasted on other government tactics to spend it on getting better infrastructure. As we paint to rebuild our economy and begin to see an increase in tax gains as a result, I would like to see some of those additional gains also spent on infrastructure innovations.
Nowlin: Most of my career has been in the construction and maintenance of our state’s infrastructure. I know firsthand the accusation of neglecting roads, bridges and infrastructure. In 2018, the American Society of Civil Engineers awarded Missouri a C-in its report. This means that we have many paintings to do in spaces such as dams, roads and waterways, while our bridges and railways do a little better. It is vital to upgrade our systems in the long term before a primary outage occurs. When our roads, bridges and utilities are well designed, well built and well maintained, it is business smart, smart for others and smart for the environment. A major credit for building and maintaining infrastructure is building jobs with smart jobs and the opportunity for more corporations to come to our state.
In 2018, there was a proposal on the ballot, which was not approved, that would have raised the fuel tax. A percentage of the cash would have been earmarked for infrastructure. A similar proposal would allow us to finance these mandatory projects in the future.
What factor wasn’t discussed, so you plan to take priority if you win your election? Why this one?
Riley: Protecting the freedoms that our ancestors fought and died for is in fact one of my priorities. As our national and state governments continue to grow, they continue to undermine our freedoms. Our freedoms, such as our Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, our right to freedom of expression, and devout freedoms are continually attacked by too many members of the government. I will fight for our freedom won with so much effort.
Nowlin: There are some policies I plan to prioritize. It is essential, however, to approve MONA because housing protections and employees for the LGBTQ network are fundamental to the expansion of our state. It’s time to make sure that members of the LGBTQ network cannot be ignored or deported because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. (Editor’s note: Other LGBTQ people can no longer be fired for their sexual orientation or gender identity thanks to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, but they can still be evicted or excluded from public housing.) It’s just an extension of the same thing. basic rights. You and I appreciate it.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that we want to reform the way we vote in Missouri. The time has come for mail voting: if you can do it in other states and in the military, we can do it here. These examples have shown that fraud is virtually non-existent with mail voting and that the degrees of participation are increasing. I would be pleased to sponsor a mail-in voting bill. I will assist in any attempt to develop people’s skills to exercise their right to vote.
I will end the consultation that guides me in everything I do politically: we have to get the money out of politics. Numerous studies have shown that the effect of cash on politics is to silence the will of ordinary people. Clean Missouri, which passed overwhelmingly through the Missouri electorate in 2018, is a smart start, but I think we want to go further. I would recommend that the next step be to look for tactics to keep black cash PACs out of state elections. These are unexplained PACs that take uncoverable cash and use it to dictate what expenses are presented to the prosecutor’s workplace and which applicants are elected.
What else does the electorate know about you?
Riley: Growing up, I knew I was looking to serve my city, my state, and my country one way or another. During my years of training and adolescence, my plan was to serve in the army. Unfortunately, at 17, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a form of cancer. For this reason, I was unable to meet the physical demands of the army and had to replace my plans. Despite everything, I tried 3/4 of my college credits when I was still in high school and got my bachelor’s degree at 19. Then I took a homework assignment at a local law firm for a few years before going to law school. School.
I’ve been married for six years to my lovely wife and the best girlfriend at school, Ellen. We have a 16-month-old son named Mitchell, a puppy who will arrive in early December, and a 100-pound Great Pyrenees named Teddy.
Nowlin: I was born in Springfield and spent most of my life here. I went to school at MSU (formerly SMSU) and started a circle of relatives here. At the beginning of my marriage, my wife and I were finishing school when she was permanently disabled. This led to a downward spiral for our circle of relatives because they may not finish school. I had to drop out of school and devote myself to painting full-time to help us, a little to make ends meet. Added to this is the burden of student loans that are vital to an education that none of us have been able to complete.
The struggle to make its way through the unsecured physical care formula has been difficult, however, the 3 years it took despite everything put it in jeopardy and SSI were worse. Doctors seeking to relieve his pain prescribed a large number of opioids, muscle relaxants and sedatives. After ten years, the tension proved too wonderful and we divorced, but we were still very productive friends. He died one night nine years ago in his sleep because of the poisonous mixture of drugs he was still taking.
He reinforced how complicated it will have to be for each and every one if it is so complicated for two college students who were imposed on unforeseen cases. I know that almost everyone in my district faces similar demanding situations on a daily basis. I worry about the long term of your children, like myself. I sense the effort it takes to get up every day and be a father and a mother. I sense the tiredness of looking to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. I will take this delight with me to Jefferson City and be the voice of those who are not heard through their representative. I’d appreciate your vote on November 3.
Austin Huguelet is the political journalist for News-Leader. Do you have anything you deserve to know? I have a question? Call it at 417-403-8096 or email [email protected]. You can also do local journalism in News-Leader.com/subscribe.