By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A state representative from St. Joseph faces opposition in his race for his fourth and final term.
Rep. Bill Falkner, a Republican, discussed a variety of issues Tuesday along with Democrat Andrew Gibson, his challenger, during a candidate forum sponsored by the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce.
Falkner supports a tax incentive package that would give incentives for child care providers to expand and for businesses to help employees pay for child care, among other things. But Falkner said the issue goes beyond that.
“One of the things that we can do is take a look at all the regulations we have placed on child care,” Falkner told an audience gathered at the Stoney Creek Hotel and Conference Center. “We want to make it safe for the kids, but we do not want to tie the hands to where the providers of this service can’t afford to do it.”
The candidate forum that also featured the two candidates running for the 13th Missouri state representative district as well as the two candidates up for Buchanan County Western District Commissioner was broadcast live on KFEQ and streamed live on St. Joseph Post.
The child care package has been carried during the last two legislative sessions by St. Joseph state Rep. Brenda Shields and received the backing of Gov. Mike Parson and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce.
Gibson said the failure of the legislature to approve the package the past two years reflects poorly on Republicans.
“The fact that they couldn’t come to some kind of agreement this year just kind of highlights the dysfunction of the super majority,” according to Gibson. “Why are we not attacking the problems of people that this affects all over, especially within our state?”
Republicans hold a 111 to 51 majority in the Missouri House and a 23 to 9 majority in the Missouri Senate.
Falkner is running for his fourth term in the Missouri House. Term limits would prohibit him from running again.
Both Falkner and Gibson favor Amendment 2 on the ballot in November. It would legalize sports betting in Missouri. They differ on Amendment 3, which would overturn Missouri’s ban on abortion.
Falkner opposes Amendment 3 and advocated changing how easily the state constitution can be amended.
“Once we vote on something for constitutional changes, we can’t fix it down in Jefferson City,” Falkner said. “It’s got to go back to the vote of the people at additional expense to run that election. And so, we found it in the marijuana issue.”
Missouri voters legalized the use of recreational marijuana in 2022.
Gibson urged voters to do their homework to overcome misinformation on the issues which will be decided in November.
“That’s very disheartening for me when I’ve knocked on hundreds of doors, made hundreds of calls this summer only to turn around and see this misinformation machine is being churned,” Gibson stated. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there right now about Amendment Three and the things that’s in there, the things that’s not in there. And it’s time to restore a woman’s right to choose. This was the law of the land for 50 years.”
The Missouri General Assembly had one of its least productive legislative sessions in its history this year, approving only 28 bills that were not related to the $47 billion state budget. It approved the state budget without the Senate and House meeting in a conference committee, unheard of in a legislative session.
Falkner said some of the Senate Republicans who regularly gummed up the works in Jefferson City will not be in the legislature next year, but added it’s not always a bad thing when few bills pass.
“Because a lot of times we’re working on bills that we passed hastily, trying to fix them the following years to come,” Falkner said. “I really believe and I have faith that these next two years will be a very good session for the state of Missouri as a whole.”
Gibson acknowledged that if he would defeat Falkner and win election to the 10th District, he would likely find himself in the minority party at the state Capitol.
“Obviously, it’s no secret, yes, we would be in a very small minority,” Gibson conceded. “But I look forward to working across the aisle and making things happen for the people of Missouri and I think that everyone is down there for that same reason. And it shouldn’t really be that hard. We just got to find those common shared values and make sure that we’re all there for the same reason.”
This article has been edited since first published.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.