Incoming governor Kehoe speaks about future of Missouri including crime, taxes and Amendment 3
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
After winning in the November election, Mike Kehoe will serve as Missouri's 58th governor next year.
Kehoe had served as lieutenant governor since 2018, after he was appointed by Gov. Mike Parson in 2018 and won the seat in the 2020 election. Prior to that, he served in the Missouri Senate.
Kehoe sat down with ABC 17 News to discuss the future of his administration when he takes office in January.
Meghan Drakas: So Governor-elect Kehoe, thanks so much for sitting down with us today. How are you doing today?
Mike Kehoe: Great. Thank you for having me on.
Drakas: Of course. So to start off, how has this transitional period been for you?
Kehoe: Oh, it's been great. We're assembling a great team of folks together that really have the best interests for Missouri at heart. And it's it's been kind of a change of pace from campaigning and running around the state, meeting a lot of great people to actually now getting to govern and make decisions to move Missouri forward. That's what I think I'm a little bit better at. So, I've been excited. It's been it's been a busy but but very productive several weeks.
Drakas: Yes, of course. Very busy time of the year, as well. To start off, really getting into it. Let's start off with the taxes in the budget. You've previously spoken about your no new tax pledge while running for governor. Is that still the current plan? And if so, how do you plan to supplement income in the budget?
Kehoe: Sure. Well, that's two separate things. We did say we'd have a no new tax pledge. We would not be raising taxes on Missourians while I'm in office. And I maintain that that will absolutely be the way we govern.
But then, the second piece of that was try to give more money back to Missourians in the form of a tax cut, eventually eliminating trying to eliminate our state income tax.
Several bills have been filed. As everybody knows, I think that takes legislation. And so we're very interested in following how those bills develop and see which one is responsible for Missouri, because as I've said all along, you can't this isn't a light switch. You can't just turn it off and make it happen overnight. You have to responsibly fund public service and various essential utilities and things. So, we'll look at which one is most responsible. Like I said, there's several ideas out there. We like a few of them. We'll get behind those and see if we can get across the finish line this year.
Drakas: And kind of bringing me to my next question, income tax. You kind of said it would be not an immediate cut off. Would that be a tax elimination maybe over the course of four years? Or what would that kind of look like?
Kehoe: Oh, sure. Well, you know, first of all, the basic premise is putting money back in Missourians pockets is always a better option. Missourians are pretty smart. They can spend their money back and better than any elected official can any day of the week. But again, like I said, it takes a while to get done. We've cut our income tax from 6% to 4.7% over the last five years, putting money back in Missourians pockets.
What we want to do is essentially continue to do that. So every time revenue grows a certain percentage, we're able to cut another percentage. So sometimes, it could take a multiple years. But but at the end of the day, Missourians knowing businesses that are going to move here, etc., that we're working to eliminate our state's income tax is the goal.
Drakas: And speaking of that revenue, on Wednesday, you announced Missouri's consensus revenue estimate for fiscal year 2026. This includes a 1.6% increase in net general revenue. How do you plan to expand that general revenue specifically?
Kehoe: Well, just because you have money doesn't mean you have to spend it. Missourians, again, we want to do the same thing. Missourians entrust government with your taxpayer dollars and investing that wisely, with a good return on investment is appropriate. But, it doesn't mean you have to spend every dime. And that would be my goal.
I'm very happy that the House Appropriations Committee Dirk Deaton and the Senate Appropriations chairman Lincoln Huff and I, and as well as an economist from the University of Missouri agreed on the consensus revenue estimates when the earliest we've been able to do that, and we think that's an indication of what our administration will be, we'll work to bring people together to try to make sure we come up with the right solutions and responsible solutions for Missourians.
Drakas: And kind of moving on to crime. In an interview over the summer with ABC 17, you mentioned your Day 1 crime plan. When you take office, what does that look like?
Kehoe: Day 1 crime plan is about fully developed and pieces of it have already been filed as legislation. Specifically, Sen. Travis Fitzwater in the Senate has filed a bill that has multiple parts of our Day 1 crime plan in it, there'll be other pieces as we get inaugurated on Jan. 13. That may look like some executive orders, some things that give some additional resources to the men and ladies who protect our communities, as well as Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who's got pieces of the package that also we want to make sure we have the prosecutor authority needed to to take the bad guys off the street and keep them off the street. So there's multiple pieces to that plan. The whole thing gets unveiled on Jan. 13.
Drakas: And in Columbia right now, there's currently 25 vacancies for sworn personnel an issue seen across the state currently. What is your plan to lower these vacancy numbers?
Kehoe: Well, we are looking at other states that have a recruitment and retention model for law enforcement officers statewide. We've got some great ideas out there that we've actually borrowed from other states. There's no need to reinvent the wheel. And that would be part of our rollout: Is the pieces that we have that will help individual departments like Columbia, our Boone County Sheriff's Department, our State Highway Patrol, etc., where they have open seats to be able to bring officers in and get them into the business and then keep them in the business. I think that's very important.
Drakas: Are you talking about kind of like incentives to keep them there?
Kehoe: We've seen other states use educational opportunities quite well, similar to what a GI Bill would be, whereas if you serve in law enforcement, there are some educational opportunities that one of our fine education institutions across the state. And then some law enforcement officers might think, 'I'm past the point where I need that.' So maybe it's a product that can be passed on to other members of the family, but things like that that really help not only the officer but the officer's family.
Drakas: And according to the State Highway Patrol, violent crime has been dropping year after year in Missouri since 2021. Why do you believe that is? And what will you do to continue this trend?
Kehoe: Well, part of it I would have to attribute a large part of it to great police work and great police officers, men and ladies, again, all across our state who are working every day to keep our community safe. I would have to tell you that they are doing a very good job out there. And I would also say the attitude of the population of the US has shifted, whereas we got in for a while there where it was almost easier to be a criminal than a cop.
And that has shifted, rightfully so, I say. And Missourians are leading that effort to make sure they appreciate law enforcement officers across the state. And those communities are giving them the tools they need when they can to make sure that they have the resources and the tools they need to to curb violent crime. And I think much of it goes to the departments and the leaderships of those departments.
Drakas: And going into legislation now, during the 2025 session for lawmakers, is there any specific legislation that you would like to see end up on your desk?
Kehoe: Yeah, the crime bills that we talked about, Travis Fitzwater's bill, I'm very interested in seeing that come across the finish line. There's several economic development bills that have some they deal with some regulatory reform that we want to try to keep government out of people's lives we're interested in. There's a couple of agricultural bills that are out there that we're very interested in.
Career and technical education, I'm a big fan of making sure that our young men and ladies have an opportunity to get employment when they get out of high school or a two-year degree, whatever that looks like. And then last but not least, what we're doing with our colleges and universities is really important to me. You have the flagship campus right here in Columbia and a great school that it has what a great research school it has. Making sure that we have the opportunities for them to continue to move forward is very important to me.
Drakas: And going on to Amendment 3, which passed with 51.6% of Missouri voters. Since then, Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman has prefiled a proposed anti-abortion amendment which would ban all abortions except in the case of medical emergency or rape. Do you support this proposed amendment?
Kehoe: Yeah, I was 100% against Amendment 3. Everybody knew that. And as you mentioned, the margin it passed by was very thin. And I think that's because there was, I would believe, it was because there's a lot of confusion as to what that amendment did or did not do. There's a significant case in front of Missourians, in front of the courts right now, I should say, in Jackson County. The results of that case, I think, will tell us what types of steps we can take to continue to protect innocent life. Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman has been a great defender of innocent life, and I'm sure that she'll continue to try to carry that mantle forward. We're going to abide by the Constitution. This is a Constitutional amendment. We've said that all along. But we're always going to look for ways to speak for that innocent life that doesn't have somebody to speak for them.
Drakas: And going on to education. Now, during the next few years, what are your top goals for improving the education sector for families and educators?
Kehoe: Well, families need some options out there. We had Senate Bill 727 last year that increased our education savings accounts, or ESAs, for families who want to take advantage of sending their child to a different school. I think that's a great step forward. We've seen some charter school expansion. I think that was a great step forward, specifically here in the Columbia area. But there are some things we can build on that to continue to give parents choice. I've always said that just because we're a child is born with a zip code they're born in should not dictate what type of education they get. So making sure that child and those parents have opportunities. And then like we said just a few minutes ago, career and technical education is really, really important to me.
Drakas: And Missouri has one of the lower teacher salaries across the United States. Is there any push from your administration to raise that salary?
Kehoe: Sure. This will be the first year we've raised that up to $40,000 again, with the bill that the legislature passed and the governor signed last year. That's a big step forward to bring up teacher pay. We're excited that's able to happen. Teachers are shaping our future. They certainly shaped mine. And that's a common bond. That's a nonpartisan issue. That's not a rural that's an urban issue. In Missouri, we have great respect for our teachers, and I'm glad to see that minimum pay increase happened for them.
Drakas: And going on to immigration. How specifically is illegal immigration impacting Missourians?
Kehoe: It's a huge impact. And we've talked about this for quite a while. The last four years, the Biden administration, unfortunately, has just this open door policy. Open-border policy has not been good. I've personally visited our border twice, once with National Guard troops and once with Highway Patrol Troops. We think there's an estimated 77,000 illegal immigrants living in Missouri. That's has a significant cost, over $400 million.
Missouri taxpayers very much looking forward to working with a Trump administration and closing that border down. Look, we're a country that's been built on people that came here. My family came here in the late 1800s. We want people to come here legally. We are the land of opportunity, but we can't have this open border policy where these people are bringing in deadly fentanyl killing Missourians. It just does not work for our society and for our state. And we will do everything we can to help the Trump administration keep illegal legal immigration under control.
Drakas: I know the Trump administration has touched on deporting illegal immigrants, but also possibly their children who are born here legally as well to keep the families together. What are your thoughts on that?
Kehoe: Yeah, the president has recently come out and said Dreamers, which are that some of the folks who are brought here illegally or born here, are some that somebody that he wants to try to get involved in and try to see if there's a different path. It wasn't their fault. It born as a small child into that circumstance. So I would follow what the President Trump's lead on that. I think he's got some ideas on that. But we first, we have to find the illegal immigrants, especially the people who are causing our citizens harm. And but when we do, that's part of our crime plan. We want to make sure law enforcement has the tools to detain that person and then get them out of our state.
Drakas: And I would say, what else is your plan on immigration specifically for, say, the Missouri State Highway Patrol? I know you've touched on that in prior interviews.
Kehoe: Well, if the governor, such as Gov. (Greg) Abbott, continue to need resources to protect our border and other states that have borders down there, if they want states to help them, I know we stand ready to do that. We take that very seriously. It's a very serious act the governor can take to deploy your National Guard troops. We only want to do that in times of emergency or for our particular state safety of our citizens. But again, on a federal level, if we can start shutting the borders down, that would be the first necessary step. I know President Trump's prepared to do that.
Drakas: And moving on to agriculture, what is your view on American corporations buying up large amounts of farmland? I know this happens all across the country and in Missouri as well.
Kehoe: Yeah, we've been very clear. If you're an enemy of the country and there's a list of enemy countries out there, too, you expect China, Russia, Venezuela, Cuba, etc., that are not allies of us. They should not be able to own any land in Missouri, not just farmland, but any real property. I don't want to balance a problem on the backs of Missouri's farm families. So if you're an enemy of our country, I don't believe you should be able to own property, any real property or agricultural land here. And we want to make sure that and encourage the legislature to push through the legislation that would make that happen.
Drakas: And specifically, I know there are billionaires who like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, who own farmland specifically across the country. Do you have any thoughts on that, specifically.
Kehoe: Well they are U.S. citizens, so they obviously wouldn't fit under being the category we previously described. And, you know, some of that is capital and ability to purchase. But family farms are the backbone of Missouri. We are number two in the United States and 87,000 family owned farms. We want to continue to support those farm families, whether they're first generation like I am or fifth and sixth generation like others. We need to continue to feed and clothe the world and we will prioritize that.
Drakas: And how will your administration be different than the current one?
Kehoe: Well, I mean, Gov. Parson has done a great job. I think, of setting a foundation for us to build our economy on and build some of the initiatives that we have. We have different management styles. We're two different people, but we have the same interest. We love Missouri. We want this to be the opportunity for Missourians to grow and raise a family for businesses to expand here.
Certainly I had opportunities as a young child coming from a single mother household to really get out and own a business, operate a business. We want those same opportunities for all Missourians. So I'm going to continue to create that environment that allows businesses to expand here and move here and grow and create opportunities.
Drakas: And what would your legacy, what would you like your legacy to be?
Kehoe: I want to leave the state just a little bit better than when I found it. And we're in pretty good shape. We've got a lot of room to grow, and I would really like to be able to leave here knowing that my children and grandchild that will be born in March have those opportunities to be able to stay here and raise a family here.
Drakas: And Governor-elect Kehoe, is there anything else that you would like to share with Missourians?
Kehoe: Sure, I would just tell you how thankful I am and humbled I am for them to have chosen me to do this job. It's a large job. There will be good days and bad days. So I ask them for their prayers. But I'd like to thank them for giving me this opportunity. I'm trying not to let them down and I really look forward to moving Missouri forward.
Drakas: Governor-elect Kehoe, thank you so much for speaking with us.
Kehoe: Thank you for having me on.
Drakas: Of course.
