Missouri 50th House District candidate interview: Jeff Basinger

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

ABC 17 News is interviewing candidates in the August primary ahead of the election. Below is an interview with Jeff Basinger, one of two Democrats seeking election to the 50th House District seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Doug Mann, who is stepping down because of health issues.

The district includes much of south Columbia and areas of Boone County that border the city on the south and east.

Basinger's opponent in the Democrat primary is Gregg Bush.

Mitchell Kaminski: Why do you want to run for the 50th District seat?

Jeff Basinger: Extremism and political theater have ruled Missouri politics for years. I want this to be a place where people want to work, study, live. So hopefully I can make things better.

Kaminski: What would you say the biggest issue facing the 50th District that you would want to address first if you are elected?

Basinger: Well, I think public education is a huge part of my platform and it's a big part for Boone County. We got targeted for a charter school at the end of last session. So public school funding and teacher pay have been big issues in general. Our schools have been under attack by a lot of disinformation. In this charter school, the officials are saying it could cost us $10 million to $15 million so our schools might be hurt and even more locally. It's a big issue.

Kaminski: Speaking of charter schools, there is a big argument from the other side of the aisle saying that more school choice is a good thing that will help with competition. Why do you think charter schools would be so damaging to some of the public schools here in the Boone County area? And what would you think would be the best way of addressing Missouri education?

Basinger: I think finances are a big part of it. You know, this bill that passed it set up special funding for Boone County. Not only did it target us, despite us being eighth in population, it set up funding where we're probably going to get less compensation for students that need to go to the charter schools in places like Kansas City and St Louis. So funding is a big issue. If they were able to make sure that we get compensated for those dollars, that's a big issue.

And then just accountability. You know, public schools are our state's accountable public schools. There are issues as far as meetings being public where if you have a complaint about the school, you can go there and have your school officials address it. Record keeping, figuring out where dollars are going. Those are all issues where really public schools draw criticism because they're open, they're transparent. We're not going to know what the problems are as easily in charter schools.

Kaminski: What would you say your biggest funding priorities would be? Your spending priorities, and maybe it's cut somewhere on the financial side? Where would your biggest funding priorities be if you were elected?

Basinger: I think public school and teacher pay are big ones. We really do have social service problems across the board. You know, we are one of the lowest in the nation as far as what we spend per person. We're down near the bottom in healthcare spending. We're down near the bottom in social service spending across the board. I mean, how you fix that is going to be tough. I think that for me, it starts with sales tax because that's going to help the most people. So things like food, things like childcare, where lots of people have need and it's going to help lots of people cut taxes there. And what does that mean?

Well, we're already towards the lowest end in income and corporate taxes all around -- the bottom five for that. So maybe hold off on some of those Kansas Brownback-style tax cuts for people that need it the least. But social services across the board are mental health, drug rehab. All of that needs help, honestly. So you can there's a lot of places you can choose to help.

Kaminski: Speaking of social services, homelessness is another issue that has been talked about a lot in Boone County. I know it's not it's not even just an issue here. It's across the U.S. Do you have a plan or how you would like to see Boone County address that issue? How would you like to see homelessness be tackled or at least addressed in Mid-Missouri?

Basinger: Homelessness is a huge problem and I think that it starts with making sure there's not an irresponsible tax code like cutting income taxes entirely and losing another $10 billion. But you have to find a way to get affordable housing. One thing that there's been some emphasis on is giving people tax credits for saving for houses so you can increase that type of thing, making sure there's shelters.

There's social services issues. You know, our nursing homes are being overused. There was just a federal Justice report saying that we need more of these intermediary services so that for guardianships we don't just toss everybody in a nursing home. So there's intermediary services that try to find people jobs, try to get them set up and going, try to make sure they're on social services if they qualify for it. Help people, help people get their mental health services set up. Those types of things would help. There are practical things too -- land banks, help clear out tile and help repair places when they're abandoned. And so you can get property up and moving again. There's really a whole lot of areas we could improve in.

Kaminski: Crime is another hot-button issue around the Boone County area. How would you address some public safety concerns and or find some of those areas? What would be your plan of attack as far as crime goes?

Basinger: As far as crime goes, it's an overlap with a topic like homelessness because there are a lot of different factors that go into it. I mean, poverty is a huge one. If we just have a functional government that helps, you know, we are, I believe, last in the nation in Medicaid application as far as the amount of time it takes to process that. We got sued for SNAP benefits. People are on hold for over an hour, you know, and so once you start having these types of problems, then you have poverty and you're more likely to get in a situation where you're going to make a decision where you're committing crime if your, if your life's not going so great. Addressing homelessness is a big factor.

Drug rehab is a big factor. Guns are a big factor. You know, we've got some of the most irresponsible gun laws in the nation. There's lots of little ways we can improve it with closing loopholes in background checks, safe storage laws, red flag laws, things like that. Not taking people's guns away, just more responsible laws that are in line with some of the other states around us.

Kaminski: You did mention guns. Ideally for you, what would gun legislation look like in Missouri? Because a lot of people want the Second Amendment protected. Missouri's a big gun state. But as you mentioned, they do have some of the loosest gun regulations in the country. Ideally, for you, red tape aside, what would good gun control or gun policy look like?

Basinger: A good gun policy? I mean, is something reasonable. You know, we need to communicate to Missourians that this is not about taking people's guns away. They are having a hard time even getting heard in a debate in the legislature right now. And so to get heard on a bill is really in the Republicans' hands. If you can pass one reasonable gun law, without having something silly in return, you're doing well. So things like safe storage, things like background checks, loophole closings, concealed carry permits, you know, that's something that you get basic training and take it as a responsible act to own a gun. Those are some basic ones where you're seeing over 80% approval. It's not about taking people's guns away. These are things that are popular. They're not even getting heard.

Kaminski: Governor Parson has made a point to send resources down to the border. Illegal immigration is something that's often talked about. And it's not an issue that just affects border states. It does affect some of these Midwestern states as well. Kind of a two-pronged question for you, because a lot of times illegal immigration is tied in with that in all overdoses, which is another issue of opioids, we see here in mid-Missouri.

Do you think there's a direct link between the two? And then specifically with immigration, how do you feel and what would your immigration policy be or how would you like to see Missouri handling that issue?

Basinger: I think that immigration is a federal issue. I think that there was a federal proposal and then it got bogged down. And I think honestly, Trump said something to the effect very close, that they don't want to see it pass. You know, Border Patrol has always been a federal issue. You know, I went to law school back in the 2000s and it was just bread and butter that that's the U.S. Constitution.

Federal issue is securing the border. So if you're sending if you're spending over $2 million like one trip does, that person sent someone down there for to make things a little more confusing and chaotic, you're wasting our resources that could be used to fight drug and opioid issues here. You know, if we had drug rehab centers or made medication to get people off of these drugs, that would be much more effective than going down there. And playing cowboy or whatever for this issue that's been federal, you know, whether it's related or not, not everything is a state issue. And people don't -- it's easy to forget that, you know, we are going through changing times. This has not been a state issue for throughout the entire history of the United States. So it's a waste of our tax dollars to make a political issue of it I think.

Kaminksi: With something like the opioid crisis, I guess, would that just kind of go into what you're talking about earlier is finding some more of the resources for that or how would you handle some of the fentanyl deaths in opioid issues that we've been seeing specifically here in Mid-Missouri?

Basinger: Right. I mean, I think that if you have prosecutors who are going after drug dealers, that's good. You know, these are criminal acts in the end. And so you have a responsible judicial system. You know, I do -- criminal law is one of my areas. And you need good prosecutors who are willing to enforce laws. But yeah, you need rehab.

You know, we've got drug courts here in Boone County, along with mental health courts that have been recognized across the state. And if you get people not addicted to these anymore, if you get them to treatment, then that's going to save you so much more money in the end. So that type of thing. And then just having a just, a basic functional social network, supportive services where people can get housing treatment, can apply for food stamps and things without being denied a benefit, they're going to fall into drug abuse less often. You know, it's not a direct approach, but it would help in the end if we had a functional social services net.

Kaminski: In 2022, the courts overturned Roe v Wade. Where would you like to see Missouri stand as far as that abortion issue goes?

Basinger: Oh, we need to get every single voter out in November and we need to pass this reproductive rights amendment. You know, only 22% of people last I saw supported these trigger laws that don't even have exceptions for rape or incest. So we need to pass this amendment. I assume that the 380,000 signatures are going to be approved and it's going to be on there, and that's where I want to see it.

From there, we need someone to protect those rights. You know, if the legislature is going to come and try to play politics with it and put limits and silly, the artificial barriers to people on the rights, then hopefully I can argue on the forefront in the legislature to show that these kinds of laws are going to be struck down or we don't need to bother with them in the legislature.

Kaminski: Finally, I'll leave the floor open to you. Is there anything that we might not have touched on that is an important issue to you or anything you would just feel that would be important for people to know about you or your campaign?

Basinger: Yeah, I think that one of my big issues I'd like to focus on is gerrymandering. A lot of people know that when they made U.S. congressional districts gerrymandered Columbia right down Broadway, and that got me interested in that. Part of the thing as far as the state legislature goes is there's a mathematical formula to it and they raised it to 15%.

And the courts agree that allows severe gerrymandering. So adjusting that and having a mathematical solution to gerrymandering would be great for democracy. It's something I've tried to draw attention to. But in general, I think as an attorney, you know, I'm going to go down there if elected and try to focus on all kinds of issues. We are not there to represent one interest group or one person, one type of profession. I want to go down there, try to get to the bottom of these problems and make a functional government across the board.