House District 60 candidate interviews: Kyerra Johnson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Kyerra Johnson is a Republican running for Missouri’s 60th House District. Johnson is originally from East St. Louis, Illinois, but has worked within Missouri's government for several years. This includes working as a criminal deputy clerk in Jefferson County and in administrative roles at the Missouri Supreme Court.

Johnson most recently served as Chief of Staff for Sen. Angela Mosley (D-Florissant).

Spencer’s platform includes advocating for mental health awareness, limited government and anti-abortion.

The 60th District covers Jefferson City south of the Missouri River. The seat is being left vacant by outgoing Rep. David Griffith. Johnson is running against Scott Spencer and Shane Kampeter.

Suzanne Luther is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Marie Moyer: My first question is, why are you running?

Kyerra Johnson: I'm running because I've looked across the United States. I started public service at a really young age, and I did that because I lost my parents at a really young age. We witnessed the homicide-suicide of my mother and stepfather, and I didn't understand why things like that happened in underserved communities versus other communities, like the suburban areas. And so it kind of let me on this quest to try to understand government, the ins and outs of it.

And so I went to the University of South Alabama. I wanted to study political science and criminal justice, and that just led me even further. I followed my mentor, I started in state government, I worked for the judiciary for about five or six years, I worked on the executive branch, and finally on the legislative branch as the chief of staff.

Moyer: Could you expand upon on who you were working with for chief of staff?

Johnson: Absolutely, I got to work under State Sen. Angela Walter Mosley. She's out of District 13, which covers North County, and it was an incredible experience. I like to tell people it's like one of the greatest paid internships I could ever have because I got a chance to understand what it meant to work on both sides of the aisle, and when you're running for office, no matter what state that you get in, it's good to be able to work and understand both sides so that you could navigate to get good legislation passed.

Moyer: You said that you were coming back from door-knocking, so how's the campaign been going?

Johnson: Very hot. But the best part is being able to have those detailed conversations. I love having constituents ask the really hard questions because that gives me the opportunity to think more and make sure that I can go home and research and try to understand what they might need. And so it's kind of like serving the community, and I enjoy that; that's probably one of the best parts. And of course, showing up in my dress that says 'Vote for me' on that, they seem to get a kick out of that.

Moyer: And then what would your first priority be if you were elected?

Johnson: Mental health is a really high priority for me. I think that after working in the Senate and working across the aisle, that's something that I don't see a lot of advocacy for. I know that we try, but I don't hear a really loud voice, and I want to be able to help with early intervention. And that would mean like using psychiatrists from other states to come in through and create reciprocity across states, and also create collaborative agreements with the state of Missouri, so that way we can help build enough supply for the demand that we have.

Moyer: And then just kind of going back to the campaign, what are some major issues that have been brought to you by constituents on the trail?

Johnson: Yeah, a lot of people, they have big questions about Amendment 4. Some have questions about Amendment 5, of course. And a lot of them really just want to make sure that they're able to see transparency in government. A lot of people have lost faith, and they don't see that their legislators truly care about them. And my goal is to bring that transparency back and make sure that they know that I do care, I'm just like them, and I want to see good things come out of government.

Moyer: And then I guess if you are able to expand on that, is the main thing you're seeing kind of a need for transparency or, I know you mentioned, like mental health as an issue you're tackling, but is it mainly just the issue of transparency that you have been seeing?

Johnson: I would say that, but each time I mention mental health, it's like this, this deep breath that they take or the sigh that they have because they know how critical it is. When I talk about public safety, I always bring the idea back to our officers are overwhelmed, and a lot of them are overwhelmed because they are dealing with those that may have mental illnesses and also those that are criminals, and so, I think that they take that really hard, and it becomes overwhelming for our entire system because they can't address the actual problems. And we don't, again, have enough supply for the actual demand. And so when they hear that, they give a sigh of relief to know that somebody is putting that initiative forward.

Moyer: You already kind of mentioned valid issues being brought up, but jumping to ballot measures, how do you feel about Amendment 4 or changing the number of votes required for citizen petitions?

Johnson: I would say when it comes to Amendment 4, just like I said, working in the legislature, there is a level of compromise that you do have to have, and you have to see both sides of the coin. With Amendment 4, if the state of Missouri has an important issue, for instance, let's talk about Amendment 4, we shouldn't have other states or other countries bringing or paying other people within our state to push their own initiatives. Like, this is our state, we should be able to make sure that our state is pushing for our state and not other particular places that are outside of us.

And so when it comes to the other portion, it's hard to say that if everyone doesn't agree on a particular matter, then it's all out, but I also think that that pushes a lot of us to work a little bit harder, to make sure that we're actually paying attention to government and that we're willing to make more compromise, not just for the three largest portions of the state of Missouri when it comes to cities like Jackson County, Springfield and St. Louis, we actually have way more rural territory than we do those large cities. So we have to be considerate of the entire state.

Moyer: And then to Amendment 5, do you think the state should eliminate income tax?

Johnson: I think that, here's the big thing, is that there's three things that I like to bring to that: Governor Kehoe, he did the right thing. When it comes to talking about anything that the governor wants to do, it's important that he's transparent with the people. He brought this back as an idea, and he said, 'Hey, before I do anything, I want to make sure that you all understand it's a constitutional amendment and you all have the say-so' in order to make sure that this is changed, not just him alone.

And so the other part about this is the same thing with Amendment 4 -- we don't participate in our elections enough, specifically the primaries, and this is one of those measures where we're going to have a lot more people coming towards the ballot and being able to express how they feel.

But when you ask me my personal opinion, I will say that when it comes to sales tax and removing the income tax, we have to make sure that we're clear on what the angle is, where the tax is going to be picked up at. And I think that since it's phasing out the tax, I think everybody in the community wants to be a little bit more aware of where that tax is going to be picked up at. And I want to understand that also, because I, too, my family were going to be affected by that as well.

Moyer: I guess kind of a follow-up with that, do you think the state could utilize, or I mean, what do you think the state could utilize or cut to kind of split that difference?

Johnson: Well, you know what? It actually is a couple of things. One of the things that I do want to put forward, this is actually one of my initiatives, which is phasing out supplemental programs. We spend billions of dollars on supplemental programs, and that's taken a huge chunk out of our state budget. What we need to be able to do is help those that are using supplemental programs and create a pipeline into trade programs, something that we desperately need inside the state of Missouri and across the United States, which also helps rebuild our middle class.

With that, I think also that sin tax I've mentioned, that can be an idea as well. It doesn't do a whole lot, but it does take a chunk of that tax, that percentage away. And so that would be taxing things like cigarettes and alcohol. But Missouri actually has some of the lowest costs when it comes to things like alcohol and cigarettes when it comes to our surrounding states.

Moyer: And then could you maybe expand on the supplemental programs? You obviously don't need to name specific ones, but just give more context?

Johnson: Well, I would say that I've seen a lot of generational poverty in a lot of communities. And like I said earlier, I actually grew up in an underserved community. And so to see that so many individuals that are living below the poverty line, they need a lot of assistance. But, what we've seen in history that some of those programs that were implemented, they did not create a pathway out, and we need to be able to help transition that community, our communities, into a place where they can have a stable income, they can build 401Ks. And that way the middle class doesn't have to suffer, nor will our state budget have to suffer.

Moyer: Budget was kind of a hot topic in the General Assembly this past year, with the state auditor reporting the state had a spending problem. So I guess, how would you approach proposing or supporting new legislation when funding is limited?

Johnson: I think that we have to make sure that we do cut a lot of the things that we put forward when it comes to just giving, or not giving things away, but we have to be more considerate of what we're giving our money to, or what we're giving our money to in the budget. If we're just giving sometimes schools and universities or some places a lot more money, we can cut back, and we can help communities actually advocate -- not advocate, but advocate for communities to push more funding for themselves. So I take Jefferson City for an example, if there is something that we want in our community, we should all be able to help pull together on a lot of these instances. And if we did that across the state of Missouri, that means that there's less spending in our state budget.

Moyer: Could you expand on that? Is that kind of "pulling together," as in people coming together and then letting other legislators know, I guess, what kind of path would that be?

Johnson: I think that yeah, you should also let your legislators know. But I think that when we're talking about being conservative, we want limited government intrusion. And so when we are dealing with a lot of our local issues, we should just, we should really be advocating for our community, our dollars to stay within our community, so we can help bridge those gaps.

Now, when it comes to things like I think our nonprofits, I think that we will help relieve our budget a lot more if we took some of those funds and spread it across to nonprofit organizations. So I would just say, if you took $500,000 in the state budget and you spread those funds across to nonprofits within the state or within a particular area, you're now letting the community help take care of the community, versus spending millions and millions of dollars on trying to fix things that we might be able to fix ourselves.

Moyer: And then I don't have any other questions. What else might you want people to know about you?

Johnson: That I'm really here for the people. That I've studied, I've done the homework. I always say, "What makes a good mechanic?" And we could very well trust a mechanic that just came out with this degree to do a great job, but it makes a good mechanic when you can bring your car in, you can see what the issue might be, you can hear what's going on, and they can go in and fix it. That's the same way I feel like I've been able to work is. I wanted to be able to see what the problem was, hear what the people say, and come in and say, "Well, these are the gaps, and let's come in, and this is how we can help fix these things."

It doesn't mean that I know everything, but it does mean that after working in the legislative branch, I understand what it means, like to work with both sides of the aisle, understanding the committees, understanding what it means to, you know, co-sponsor bills or how people on the other side of the aisle have them handle your bills and things like this. This is all important knowledge because you're racing against the clock on Day 1. And so you want to be able to get in there, and you want to be able to hit the ground running.