Missouri Gov. Mike Parson will give the annual State of the State address on Wednesday, outlining his budget priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.
Some of those goals will have broad bipartisan support, including raises for state employees and an emphasis on child care in regard to workforce development.
Assistant House Minority Floor Leader Richard Brown, D-Kansas City, is the latest guest on the Politically Speaking podcast. He discussed the policies he would like to see passed regarding child care, as well as other House Democratic goals.
Here’s some of what Brown talked about on the show:
- His background as a teacher, including how he ended up running for a Missouri House seat.
- The overall goals of House Democrats as well as his expectations for working across the aisle this year.
- Republicans’ efforts to make it harder to amend the Missouri Constitution through initiative petition changes. Brown thinks that could backfire for Republicans in the future.
- House Democrats’ efforts to pass gun control bills, including what legislation Brown thinks has a chance, even with a Republican supermajority.
- What bills related to education he expects to see and what he wants to focus on, including addressing teacher pay and the four-day school week that some Missouri school districts are pivoting to.
- The multiple bills filed by Republicans barring transgender girls from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. Brown calls the bills discriminatory.
Brown first ran for the Missouri House in 2016, beating then-Democratic incumbent Bonnaye Mims in the primary. He was elected as House assistant minority floor leader before the 2020 legislative session.
Prior to serving in the legislature, Brown was a public school teacher for 23 years in Kansas City.
