Interview with Kurtis Gregory, candidate for Missouri Senate District 21

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Kurtis Gregory is a Republican running in Missouri's 21st Senate District. According to Gregory's campaign website, he is committed to improving infrastructure, ensuring a quality education for Missouri students and supports Missouri's military families and veterans.

Gregory, who has served two terms in the state House representing the 51st District including Marshall, is looking to succeed fellow Republican Denny Hoskins, who is prevented from seeking reelection by term limits.

He will go up against Democrat Jim Bates in the Nov. 5 general election.

Jazsmin Halliburton: You and your opponent are both big on family farmer values, or at least that's what I've read ... on both your websites. How would you do things differently?

Kurtis Gregory: I mean, the state of Missouri, we've done a really good job. The last couple of years, we got the big farm I call it the Missouri version of the Farm Bill, like, we've got the federal farm bill that's obviously got crop insurance. And actually, what a lot of people don't know is that's where the SNAP program comes from, otherwise called food stamps. So it's like, at the federal level, it's like 85% food stamps. The rest of it is actual farmer issues.

I call our Missouri farm bill is where we've got a lot of our ethanol and biodiesel and next-gen cooperative tax credits. There's a whole big package. It's a catalyst for driving the ag industry forward in the State of Missouri. That's something that was a tough deal to get done a couple of years ago, but it's vital to our ag economy to keep that innovation going and rolling. You hear about doing more with less, and that's the name of the game. As urban crawl moves out into the rural areas, people are buying more ground. They're buying one and two acres to build a house. That land comes out of production. So we gotta learn to do more with less, and that's what I want to make sure we keep burning is that technological growth of instead of growing 200-bushel corn on average, let's grow 250 and then 10, 15, 20 years from now, maybe it's going to be 300. I know that sounds wild, but you know, back in the 1970s 100-bushel corn, really good year. So I just want to continue to fuel that and see where we can get to.

I think for me, the next big thing for Missouri, keeping beef production in the state of Missouri, where, like a number, we bounce back and forth between two and three in cow-calf production. But most all those calves or cattle leave the state of Missouri to get finished and then harvested. We do have a slaughter plant being built in Warrenton, Missouri right now, so looking forward to see what that does for the beef industry.

Halliburton: And I know also [you value] education in Missouri and students. So what is, what does that plan look like to kind of improve, improve on that?

Gregory: Well we passed a very large education bill last year. Senate Bill 727, was historic funding for public schools, public education, but also expanded the choice element. I was kind of a hybrid kid. I went to public school kindergarten, but then I went to Trinity Lutheran in Alma, Missouri, for eight years, and then I went back to public high school, so I kind of got both worlds. It was just how things shook out, and that's where my sister was going, so I'll follow her footsteps. She actually went to St Paul's Lutheran High School in Concordia, but Santa Fe had a little better football team, and that's where my dad went. So I went to the public route.

I think that there's different options for different kids. Some choices are better choices. Some kids don't have the means or the opportunity to leave maybe a failing school and get into one that fits them better. And so I think kind of all options need to be on the table, but we have to make sure we continue to take care of our public schools, because they're the backbone for educating the youth of tomorrow. And so just want to make sure they have the funding they need. To make sure we're taking care of the teachers, you know, the buildings, the infrastructure, the buses. I've learned one of the big things is funding for transportation, for those bus routes. And you think about it, Missouri is a very rural state, and you've got buses beaten up and down gravel roads every single day, and so that's vital, that we protect that funding.

Halliburton: And obviously, two very big things coming up on the ballot. It's going to be Amendment 2 and Amendment 3 regarding abortion, sports betting ... So where do you stand on both of those things and if it goes the way that you would like it to, what [are] the next steps to kind of help improve things from there?

Gregory: I'd really love to see sports betting. It's kind of a shame we haven't been able to get it done in the legislature. Many different reasons why, but you know, none of them are really good enough. You know, at the end of the day, the buck's got to stop somewhere, it stops in Jefferson City. I guess you could say I should take responsibility for it, but I know that I voted for it every time it's been before me, because I know it's something people want, and it's kind of crazy. It's one of the things that most of the people back home that it's one of the No. 1 things I hear about, "'"when y'all going to get sports betting done?"

Also, no, not everybody cares about it. Not everyone gambles. I know I'm not going to gamble, but every now and then, it'd be fun to say, "hey, you know what? Then Kansas City Royals were, you know, 100 to 1 odds to make the playoffs at the start of the season, I'm going to put some money on that." And behold, they made the playoffs. Maybe I had a little something there.

So I blame no one for the initiative petition getting started and getting ran, because the legislature has not done its job. However, I'm not sure that this way is correct. There is potential funding for public education in it. I'm just not sure it's the right way, and I think we need to have a good legislative solution, but I'm not going to blame anybody that votes for it because we fail to do our job. And so just kind of what I've been telling people, if you want sports betting now, vote for it if you want to make sure that it gets done, but also is going to have funding for public education come out of it, then vote no and let us in Jefferson City. But I'm not going to really sway people either way on that one.

Halliburton: Sorry. What would a good legislative solution look like if sports betting does get voted on, but if there's a better way to help it fund schools?

Gregory: Just to make sure that there's actually money there. The way that this one has been has been written, it appears that it could end up being zero tax dollars paid in by the sports betting platforms and companies. You'll see the numbers where it talks about over $100 million for public schools, which that is correct, but I think that's over a five-year period and our public school budget line item is in the billions of dollars. And so not saying that $20 million a year isn't a lot of money, because it is. But when you're dealing with billions of dollars for a budgeted amount, then where are we at?

And so I just, I think there's probably a better way to get it done to where we're getting good, solid funding for those public education dollars. But like I said, we've not gotten the job done at Jefferson City, so I'm not going to fault anyone that votes for it to make sure they can do it.

Halliburton: And now I guess on to Amendment 3. Of course, there's a lot of things surrounding that as well, another big part that's going to be on the ballot in November. So what is, what does that look like? What does a successful Amendment 3, I guess look like to you?

Gregory: That it fails. Obviously, pro-life candidate, I know Missouri is one of the first ones to pass what we have in law now, which is a ban, but there is exceptions for life and health of the mother. So we've got some of those safeguards in place. It will be talked about that there's no currently elective abortions inside of the state of Missouri. But I think in fact, there have been around 50 to 60 happen per year for those instances, for life and safety, or life and health of the mother. So we have those safeguards in place for that fact.

There's a lot of stuff inside of Amendment 3 that is not what was billed to be when they were getting signatures. It's not just about women's health care. Like I would, was walking past signature takers and it was like, sign this so women can have choice for their health care. It's like, well, that's not exactly factual. Yes, they would be getting that choice, but there's a lot of other pieces inside of it that aren't wholly true.

Halliburton: All right, and so obviously these are the same questions that I'm going to be asking Jim later, too. But I know the political landscape has probably been really divided, maybe some might say more than it has been. So if you are elected, what can you do to make sure that everyone's voices and concerns can be heard?

Gregory: So this is something that I've talked about to a few different groups lately. You know, in Missouri, when you're running in a primary, obviously you're trying to garner the most votes from your party. And so you just, you have that party hat on kind of the same way in the general election, but then you're trying to get some crossovers, of, hey, "I want to get as many votes as I can. I'm trying to beat this other person that's in a different political party."

And then once that general election is over, you've got to make a conscious decision to take that campaign hat off and grab this one over here that says I'm now the elected senator or the elected representative for however many people are in your district, for senate districts, that's around 175,000 people, so you have to put that hat on that says I'm now their senator, and I have to do everything I can to help my constituents. Now we're going to disagree on the big political issues. Obviously, sure, that is what it is. But when someone calls me up for help with the government agency or help with this or an idea for that, I don't ask them what party they are. I do the job for them to call Department of Revenue and say, why haven't they gotten their tax return back? Or a call the Department of Commerce and Insurance, because they've got an issue with an insurance company or called Department of Transportation because there's a bridge about ready to fall in on such and such road. That's what it is about being a good legislator.

Now as far as getting good things done in Jefferson City, that's about just, in my opinion, mutual respect. And can you get the respect of not only people inside of your caucus, but people across the aisle to actually sit down and have a grown-up adult conversation about an issue like, "hey, we're never going to agree on everything inside of this, but what can we agree upon? What can we work on to get good legislation forward for the people of Missouri?"

Halliburton: This brings me to, my final question. So what makes you a better choice than your opponent?

Gregory: I would think I grew up here, like, I grew up in Lane County. As far as I know, as district numbers, I've always been in the 21st Senatorial District. It's heavily agricultural. Cooper, Howard, Saline, Lafayette, Ray, and then even that northern portion of Clay County. If you drive, drive around it, it's very rural influence. I grew up from a small town, actually I grew up out in the country not even in town. Country boy on gravel roads. So I know what it's like being out there. I know what it's like to run a farm. I make the inference that farming is not much different than small business.

You know, we get lots of small businesses up there in Liberty and Smithville. Just crazy, 21st goes from Rocheport all the way to Smithville, Missouri. We've got a lot of similarities, and I'm from here. I was raised here, that I want to be the next senator for the 21st District, because I know the issues that everyday people are dealing with.