Politically Speaking

On a special edition of Politically Speaking, St. Louis Public Radio links up with KCUR’s Statehouse Blend to review the ins and outs of the 2019 session of the Missouri General Assembly.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Rachel Lippmann joined KCUR’s Samuel King and Brian Ellison to talk about the final week of the legislative session. That’s when the legislature sent a wide-ranging economic development bill to Gov. Mike Parson over the objections of conservative senators.

The General Assembly also passed a far-reaching abortion ban that bars the procedures after eight weeks of pregnancy. There are no exceptions in the bill for women who become pregnant because of rape or incest. And the legislation would ban abortion completely with the exception for medical emergencies if Roe versus Wade is overturned.

Alderman Jack Coatar joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann and Jason Rosenbaum in talking about what to expect in the next few months at the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.

Coatar represents the city’s 7th Ward, which includes neighborhoods like downtown St. Louis, Soulard, Lafayette Square and Compton Heights. He was elected to a full term on the board in 2017 after winning a 2015 special election.

State Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal returned to Politically Speaking to talk with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about the leadership change in St. Louis County — and several issues percolating in the Missouri General Assembly.

The University City Democrat represents the 86th District in the Missouri House, which takes in parts of University City, Wellston, Pagedale and Hanley Hills.

After spending eight years in the Missouri Senate representing a slew of municipalities in central and north St. Louis County, Chappelle-Nadal chose to run for another term in the Missouri House last year.

Attorney General Eric Schmitt is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where the GOP statewide official talked with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about his first few months in office.

Gov. Mike Parson appointed Schmitt to succeed Josh Hawley, who resigned as attorney general after being elected to the U.S. Senate. Before taking on the role of attorney general, Schmitt served as state treasurer and as a state senator.

Soon after taking over as attorney general in early January, Schmitt announced a number of high-profile initiatives. One included deputizing assistant attorneys general as special assistant U.S. attorneys. Schmitt said that’s allowed his office to work with federal authorities more closely on cracking down on violent crime. He’s also soliciting information from Missourians to help with lawsuits against the opioid industry launched under Hawley’s administration.

On the latest edition of Politically Speaking, Jo Mannies reunites with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum for a special edition of the show featuring former Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt.

Blunt served as the state’s chief executive from 2005 to 2009. He was the first Republican governor to serve with a GOP-controlled General Assembly in modern history.

Blunt was a third-generation elected official. His father is U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, who also served as congressman, secretary of state and Greene County clerk. His late grandfather, Leroy Blunt, was a state legislator representing part of southwest Missouri.

After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1993, Blunt embarked on a career in the Navy that lasted for 14 years. He served for six months in support of Operation Enduring Freedom during his tenure as secretary of state, which made him the first statewide official in Missouri history to be called in for military service.

Blunt served as a state representative for one term before being elected secretary of state in 2000. Blunt then won a closely contested race for governor in 2004 against then-Auditor Claire McCaskill.

Rep. Bruce Franks returns for his third appearance on Politically Speaking, where the St. Louis Democrat talked about how he’s been faring during his third year in the Missouri House.

Franks first burst on the Missouri political scene in 2016, when he defeated (after a high-profile redo election) incumbent Penny Hubbard. He was elected to another term last year without opposition, getting another two years to represent a part of eastern St. Louis.

After a first term that saw a decent amount of success for a Democrat in the super minority, Franks said that he’s had a more frustrating 2019 session. For one thing, his effort to get more money for summer jobs programs in the state budget faltered. That comes amid increasing scrutiny of SLATE, a St. Louis agency that helps connect people with jobs.

Rep. Dean Plocher is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where the Des Peres Republican primarily talked about a potential merger between St. Louis and St. Louis County.

Plocher represents the 89th House District, which includes parts of Town & Country, Huntleigh, Des Peres and Country Life Acres. Plocher, an attorney by trade, is the chairman of the influential House General Laws Committee.

A group called Better Together unveiled a plan earlier this year to createa metro government overseeing St. Louis and St. Louis County. Among other things, the new entity would have a mayor, assessor, prosecutor and 33-person council government what is now the city and the county.

Organizers are seeking to get the Better Together plan before statewide voters in November 2020. They contend a constitutional amendment is necessary to implement key elements of the plan, such as consolidating police departments and municipal courts. But that decision has sparked bipartisan criticism, because it means that a city-county merger could happen if it passes statewide, even if St. Louis and St. Louis County residents vote against it.

House Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann is the latest guest on Politically Speaking, where the O’Fallon Republican discussed some of the issues that may consume the Missouri House’s time over the next few weeks.

Wiemann is part of the GOP leadership team that runs the Missouri House. As speaker pro tem, Wiemann often presides over the Missouri House — and is part of some key policy discussions among the Republican supermajority.

Originally from Phelps County, Wiemann is an insurance broker who first won election to the House in 2014. But he’s been involved in Missouri politics for several decades. He worked for then-Secretary of State Roy Blunt in the early 1990s. And he also helped out on his father’s unsuccessful state Senate campaign in 1990 against then-Democratic state Sen. Mike Lybyer.

On the latest edition of Politically Speaking, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum spoke with U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley about his first few months in the United States Senate.

The Republican senator was elected to a six-year term last November. Saturday will mark his 100th day in office, which has been jam-packed with some big debates over President Donald Trump’s agenda and administration.

Hawley first burst onto the Missouri political scene in 2016, when he was elected as the state’s attorney general. Roughly two years later, he unseated U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill in one of the most expensive and high-profile federal contests of the 2018 election cycle.

After being sworn into office in January, Hawley was assigned to a number of key committees — including the Judiciary and Armed Services Committees. The Judiciary Committee is responsible for voting on a president’s nominees to the federal bench. Thus far, Hawley has introduced legislation aimed at lowering prescription drug prices, placing more safety measures on duck boats and creating a grant that would pay for programs to reduce law enforcement suicides.

State Rep. Wiley Price is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. The St. Louis Democrat talked extensively about his first few months in the Missouri House, as well as a slew of bills he’s sponsored to overhaul the state’s elections.

Price was first elected last year to represent Missouri’s 84th House District, which takes in portions of the western part of St. Louis. It includes largely African-American neighborhoods in north St. Louis, as well as primarily white parts of south St. Louis.

Price comes from a civically-minded family. His father, Wiley Price III, is a photographer for the St. Louis American and a recent inductee into the St. Louis Media Hall of Fame. His mother Leata Price-Land is a longtime community activist who recently ran for the 26th Ward aldermanic seat, losing narrowly to Shameem Hubbard.

When the 84th District House seat became open after state Rep. Karla May ran for the state Senate, Price ran against attorney Brad Bakker in the August 2018 Democratic primary. He emerged victorious by about 800 votes, a win that was tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic district.