Crime in Missouri, especially in our cities, is on the rise. This is due to prosecutors neglecting their duties and refusing to work with law enforcement. When criminals are allowed to go free without charges, the spillover effect of crime is obvious. We must protect our families and ensure all jurisdictions in Missouri have access to reliable prosecutorial enforcement that keep our families safe and supports our officers. Expand the jurisdiction of the Attorney General’s office to engage in local prosecution of crimes that are ignored by circuit attorneys Fully fund law enforcement and disincentive local governments from defunding their police forces Keep our schools safe

Missouri’s system for funding education is ineffective and wasteful. Students don’t receive an equal allocation of funds, and districts are allowed to receive funding for students that have left their district. We must replace the current practices and create mechanisms that ensure funds benefit students rather than districts. Parents have a right to participate in their children’s education Update funding formula to account for current enrollment numbers Reform budgeting so charter schools are not penalized and charter students receive equal funding Expand Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA’s) to empower all students, including low-income and those with disabilities, and ensure funding follows the students

Missourians pay too much for healthcare. The market for healthcare supply is artificially limited by regulations that prevent new providers from entering the market. Patients suffer medically and economically when options are limited by government regulations. We must promote free-market reforms to allow new providers and businesses to enter the market, provide additional care, lower prices, and increase availability of medical services. Reduce red-tape around telemedicine to address the shortage of nurses across the state, and promote opportunities for providers to offer healthcare to more Missourians where it is practical Repeal Missouri’s Certificate of Need law which keeps new providers out of the market to protect established providers in Missouri Require healthcare providers to publish pricing information to the public Implement a system of accountability to ensure easy access to cost of care from providers and insurance companies

Medicaid enrollment in Missouri is at record levels. The system is unsustainable and continues to grow. We must reform the Medicaid program to ensure financial sustainability by instituting free-market reforms empowering individuals over the Medicaid bureaucrats and administrators. Expand value-based payment initiatives to encourage high-quality, cost-effective care Reduce waste in the system by upgrading Medicaid’s IT systems, and encourage greater accountability Reduce costs overall through greater free-market healthcare reform, which will lower the price of healthcare for all Missourians, including those on Medicaid

Special tax districts hurt our economy by enriching developers at the expense of taxpayers and local government. When our tax dollars and credits are funneled directly to private developers, schools and public services suffer. We must reform the use of special tax districts and developer subsides. Adopt a stringent definition of “blight.” Property that has suffered from poor upkeep or mismanagement should never qualify to receive tax dollars Let voters decide if a government body should provide NIDs, TIFs or other special taxing programs Eliminate credits for residential development, which diverts resources from schools while flooding them with more students Audit school districts to eliminate taxes not being used for public services

Missouri is over reliant on income tax for revenue. States, like Florida, are at a competitive advantage for business and residents since they don’t have income taxes. We must reduce and eliminate corporate tax incentives and credits. Tax credits are overused in Missouri. We must wind down poorly-performing tax credit programs, and mirror the savings with income tax cuts. Increase transparency and accountability by including all revenues in the annual budget.

Speculation and inflation have inflated real estate prices, leaving Missouri homeowners with huge real estate property tax increases. We must treat homeowners fairly by recognizing short-term chaotic market trends leave the impoverished, disabled and fixed-income, full-retirement-age seniors especially vulnerable. Freeze property tax value assessments for seniors who own their own homes Improve transparency and simplify the appeal process for real estate assessments Use long-term value, rather than short-term snapshots of current home prices to derive assessed values Extend real estate property reassessment from every two years to every five years Don’t allow personal property assessments to be increased on a year-over-year basis based on inflation

Missouri’s budget has more than doubled in size over the last 20 years. Missouri’s spending trend is unsustainable. State lawmakers must be diligent with our tax dollars. Transparency and accountability will improve our budget by protecting taxpayers and prioritizing long-term fiscal health over the growth of the administrative state. Implement zero-based budgeting Make every agency’s budget documents easily accessible online with readable formats and downloadable PDFs Education and Medicaid account for over half of Missouri’s spending. We must reduce healthcare and education costs through a market-based approach and accountability.

Local governments and school districts make it too difficult to access budget information. Missouri doesn’t require them to publish budgets and spending. Missouri must mandate transparent governance. Local governments and school boards must report spending information and actions of its elected and administrative officials. Require mandatory databases that are easily accessible to taxpayers Require additional transparency portals to improve public access to information regarding administrative and elected official, including school curricula

Missouri’s retirement plans for public employees have left the state with unfunded liabilities. These liabilities create long-term financial burdens for taxpayers, and make it less desirable for public employees to change careers. We must provide options for public employees, including teachers, to shift to defined-contribution plans instead of outdated pension models. Allow new public employees to elect defined-contribution plans like 401(k)-style plans, with matching contributions from their school systems Repeal statutes forcing local governments trapped in unsustainable pension models to allow alternative retirement plans that ensure long-term financial health

Local health official crackdowns on small businesses have devastated our economy over the last two years. Government over-regulation and shut-downs created a hostile environment towards businesses. We must support our businesses by rolling back red-tape that allows local governments to abuse their powers and shut down our economy. Reform/Eliminate Certificate of Need programs that prevent new businesses from opening up Establish sunsets for professional licenses and licensing boards that don’t serve a direct public safety interest Reform “state-of-emergency” powers to prevent local government from enforcing healthcare directives that have not been passed by legislative bodies End tax subsidy programs that pick “winners and losers” in the economy and deprive taxpayers of public services

Missouri’s unemployment system is inefficient and inflexible. Industries across the state have labor shortages. Missouri should do more to incentivize and help people find better jobs. We must modernize our unemployment system to encourage work and remove overhead that wastes our tax dollars. Prohibit unemployment payments from exceeding 100% of a worker’s previous wages Reduce the offset rate for partial unemployment benefits from 100% to 50%. Update the reporting systems and require all new hires to be immediately reportable to Missouri Department of Labor. Upgrade IT systems to better track and administer benefits.