This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Sept. 25, 2011 - Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, kept his opinions to himself during Friday's debate over restrictive language that some abortion opponents wanted to add to the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act. Known as MOSIRA for short, the act calls for tax breaks to encourage job-creation in scientific research.
But most of his 104 Republican colleagues knew where he stood -- which might have played a role in the House's narrow decision to keep out the language and approve the Senate version unchanged. As a result, the MOSIRA bill goes directly to Gov. Jay Nixon's desk.
Tilley -- who now is running for lieutenant governor is 2012 -- has said for several years that he does support embryonic stem-cell research. He reaffirmed that view in an interview after Friday's vote.
Tilley emphasized that he does not, however, support using tax dollars to pay for such research.
Even so, for several days before the vote, Tilley had been hit with criticism from the Missouri Roundtable for Life over the $50,000 in campaign donations he has received from groups that support embryonic stem cell research.
Tilley recently received donations from Supporters of Health Research & Treatments, a group aligned with supporters of Amendment 2, the constitutional amendment approved by Missouri voters in 2006 that protects all forms of stem cell research -- including those involving embryos -- that are allowed under federal law.
Fred Sauer, president of Missouri Roundtable for Life, said in one press release that "public officials should serve the citizens of Missouri and not special interests who write big checks."
Tilley said in an interview that he had thought deeply about the matter several years
"I'm a parent of two daughters, one that's 15 and one that's 17," Tilley said. "And I have to be honest. Whenever this issue came up, it [took] some soul searching back in 2006. And I came to the conclusion that if something was wrong with one of my daughters, there'd be very few things that I wouldn't be able to do with regards to research to try and save their lives."
Republicans in Missouri and elsewhere have long been divided over the issue of embryonic stem cell research. Former Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican, supported Amendment 2 but had opted against campaigning for the measure, saying he wanted to leave the decision up to the public. But some Republicans thought he also did not want to rile Republicans who oppose such research.
Tilley appears to taking a similar approach.
Whether to support such research is "a personal decision," Tilley said. "It may put me in opposition with certain people, but that's what I feel. Now, I feel that way, but I also feel strongly enough that taxpayers shouldn't fund something they may feel is morally inappropriate. And I've voted that way."
Tilley said when the Republican House caucus selected him leadership positions, including speaker, they knew of his views on embryonic stem cell research.
"I haven't hid that," Tilley said. "Matter of fact, in caucus the other day I announced it."
