Missouri 44th District House candidate interview: John Martin

COLUMBIA, Mo, (KMIZ)

ABC 17 News is interviewing candidates in the August primary ahead of the election. Below is an interview with John Martin, one of two Republicans seeking election to the 44th House District seat being vacated by Cheri Toalson Reisch (R-Hallsville).

The district encompasses most of southern and eastern Boone County outside Columbia.

Martin's opponent in the Republican primary is Bryce Beal.

Mitchell Kaminski: First off, I appreciate you sitting down and taking the time to talk with us. First question would be, why do you want to run for this seat?

John Martin: Because I want to be a common-sense conservative voice for the 44th District. And I’m from this area, I grew up in Centralia, my wife's from Hallsville. So a lot of family and friends and people I grew up with and a lot of business contacts I have with my business that I own, and so just a great opportunity to be a leader. Provide leadership.

Kaminski: Kind of going off that, growing up in the area, what would you say the biggest issue facing the 44th District is that, if you were elected, you would like to address first?

Martin: Sure. The top thing is I go door-to-door visiting with people that in this town, it's not just common to the 44th is, just the standpoint, you know, the economy, inflation, things like that. And so people just feeling the pinch of high gas prices, high grocery prices, things like that. And so my, one of my challenges there, one of my policies there would be, I like to see our state reduce the personal income tax. Begin to knock that down to give people more money back in their pocket. And I definitely think it's doable with our current state budget.

Kaminski: With that, if you were elected, what would you say your biggest spending priorities would be? Or maybe some cuts somewhere. What would you say your biggest focus would be spending-wise? 

Martin: Yeah. I believe that government has really three main priorities. State government. The first would be law enforcement, safety, highway patrol, those types of things.  Law and order, taking care of criminal activity. Those types of things. Firefighters, things like that. Those are local issues. But really, you know, as far as the criminals, criminal activity, law enforcement.

Secondly would be roads and bridges. Infrastructure. So it's very, very important taking care of our roads, safe driving, safe roads, good roads. 

And then third would be education, obviously, in our state constitution, supports public education. Obviously, the University of Missouri is a very big part of the 44th, you know, supporting that. There is funding, so we need to properly fund those. Those types of priorities. But then there's other areas of state government that can be trimmed and our income is very strong. There's a surplus right now in our state budget and there could be some areas trimmed. We need to give that back to the people.

Kaminski: You mentioned crime. Since moving to Columbia, I know crime is a big hot-button issue in the area. What would you say, how do you plan on addressing some of these safety concerns or maybe funding? Like what would your plan of attack be as far as addressing crime?

Martin: Addressing crime, I would really want to dive into looking at what's called minimum sentencing and making sure that our state laws are good so that when there's someone that does, you know, that you know, that commits a crime, that there's at least a minimum sentence. Because what I'm thinking, what I'm concerned about is people that are committing crimes and they turn right back around and they're, they're back on the streets in a short amount of time and then they're committing more crimes and hurting more people. And so I think that's a big area right there, just making sure that we've got the right laws in place, that when there's criminal behavior, that that person is not, you know, just, you know, just let go. You know, that they know that they're taken care of and if they need to be incarcerated, we're doing that.

Kaminski: The other thing you mentioned was education. What do you think the state of Missouri education is at this point? Is there anything that you would like to see changed or that you would do differently if you were elected?

Martin: Right. The current, for example, Governor Parson, our current legislature, they've, each year they've been increasing funding for public education. The University of Missouri has its funding. They've been fully funding like the education formula, things like that, the transportation formula. So that's good. So I would want to continue to support that.  We've got a lot of good vo-tech schools in my district. You got Centralia, Hallsville, Columbia and Southern Boone schools. So you know, especially those smaller schools there are really, you know, a lot of loyalty there. Columbia Schools has its challenges. And so I think that we want to challenge schools, to do a good job of teaching the basics. And then I'm also for school choice. And so if a school is really struggling and they're not meeting some of their criteria in, you know, in there, get evaluated, there needs to be some school choice options for families to go somewhere else. So like the charter schools, things like that, I definitely support that.

Kaminski: Kind of following up with the charter school thing, I know that's something at least in the Columbia Public School District that a lot of people have been against. I know your opponent [Bryce Beal] is also a big proponent of charter schools. Why do you think that school choice is so important, I guess, for families and would be beneficial despite some people who are pushing back against that in the Columbia Public Schools system? 

Martin: Right, Right, right. Well, that, for example, they say, well, 'It's going to hurt the other public schools'. Actually, that Senate bill that got passed, they changed the funding formula from ... an attendance formula to an enrollment formula. And so instead of, because I know, for example, Columbia Schools really struggles with attendance and sometimes then their funding is decreased because of that. But if it goes to an enrollment formula, they're going to be fine as far as on funding. But I think, to answer your initial question, I think parents need to have choices out there for their kids. They have you know, they know what the you know what their kids need. And so we have the public schools and there's a lot of great teachers in there. But there's also you know, there are some times where kids are a better fit somewhere else. And maybe a charter school is an option that can, because the goal, obviously is quality education.

Kaminski: Homelessness is another issue that's not just an issue here, but all across the country. Is there anything that you would like to see done to address homelessness, whether it be I know affordable housing is a hot-button word people like to use but how would you plan on addressing the homelessness issues?

Martin: I think as far as my proposals to cut the income tax and to reduce that, I think that homeless issues and charity, things like that are best addressed locally. And I'm not a big proponent of all of big government programs where there's lots of welfare. So I say put more money back in the hands of individuals. Those individuals can give to their churches or other charity-type organizations and they can help in those needs on a local basis. I think large federal, even large state programs are ripe for a lot of just abuse, a lot of wasting of money. And so I think that, and then obviously just the challenge of, encourage them, find jobs. I'm a business owner and, I need quality employees. And so just a general challenge, find work, help them find work and challenge them, you know, to get that work. And, you know, you'll find, be a productive citizen in our society. We have veterans, unfortunately, there’s veterans that even find themselves in that situation. And so any things that we can do locally. I was a pastor for about 30 years. And so the standpoint of, you know, Christian compassion, things like that, that's part of who I am. And so we definitely need local organizations that come alongside them. But I honestly think it's best done locally. I really do.

Kaminski: Just play Devil's advocate on that point. As a pastor, I guess what would incentivize people to want to give back to their local communities to address that problem? Because even if there is more money in their pocket, that doesn’t necessarily mean they're going to give back to the church. So I guess from your experience, how would you incentivize people to maybe want to do that to help some of the homeless population?

Martin: Yeah, with that. I mean, that's obviously a moral issue. You know, if someone's you know, as far as the condition of their heart. Are they going to be a giving person, or just going to hoard it? And so you can't, there's no magic wand on that. But I think just the challenge, from our churches, from preaching from our pulpits, things like that, the challenge of people to, you know, you've got get as far as, you know, the income that you have, let's use it for our ministries, things like that. So I think a continual challenge and just a general challenge from our society as well of, you know, find work and then help those that don't have work to find work and, you know, be involved that locally.

Kaminski: I also saw on your platform you're a big proponent of defending the Second Amendment. I know that debates kind of re-sparked now with issues over the weekend with former President Trump. What is defending the Second Amendment look like to you? And do you think there's, how do you feel like Missouri's been doing so far? Is there anything you would like to see them change as far as that or make it looser? Or do you think there's any role for gun control? How do you feel? I guess what is protecting the Second Amendment look like to you? 

Martin: Yeah, I understand. Well, with our Republican majority, we've had for a long time now in Missouri, they obviously continue to strengthen the Second Amendment rights of Missouri citizens. So I support that move. You know, that working in that direction have been, you know, strengthening that for quite a while. What it means to me, I just see that as that, you know, obviously in our Constitution, we have the right to bear arms, the right to protect ourselves. And so I think that's very, very important. We have the freedoms to protect ourselves. Missouri has open-carry, things like that. I support that. I do not support those red flag laws. You know, that's kind of a push. I think that's what gets us in dangerous territory where you're turning someone in without due process. Things like that. But I definitely believe in the Second Amendment. A lady that's, you know, in a parking lot and she's getting groceries, someone attacks or things like that. She has the freedom to have that, you know, have that firearm with her to protect yourself or even, you know, even at your house. Things like that are very important.

Kaminski: In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. If you were elected, where would you like to see Missouri stand as far as that issue?

Martin I'd like to see Missouri continue to be a very strong pro-life ... state. I do believe in exceptions. I think, for example, like the life of the mother, I think it needs to be very clear in the law that if the life of the mother is at risk, that the doctor feels, that he has the ability to, and the family themselves, to make those decisions. So I think that's important to have that, you know, as an exemption. But I think life is precious. I believe that life begins at conception and should be protected really from the womb all the way all the way to natural death. I think it's very important.

Kaminski: Immigration is another big topic. And I know Governor Parson did send some people down to the border, and it's kind of one of those issues that doesn't necessarily just affect the border states. With immigration, what are your thoughts on how that's impacting Missouri? And I guess even though we're not right next to the border, I guess how would you handle that issue or where do you stand with that?

Martin: Well, first, I support Governor Parson, you know, sending some of the Missouri National Guard down there. So we definitely appreciate their service to do that, to help states like Texas and things like that on, you know, on that. So that's where that would come under my priority of law enforcement, making sure our highway patrol and those agencies have the resources they need as people are coming up, you know, I-44 coming across, I-70 coming through, you know, mid-Missouri that we're paying attention to what's happening with the drug trafficking, crime, things like that. So that's obviously a critical issue and that's going to, potentially going to migrate into the smaller towns. You know, there may be Springfield, St Louis, and Centralia or Columbia and Saint Louis, but smaller towns, it'll migrate. We're going to be very careful with that and watch that.

Kaminski: And then finally, I'll leave for open to you. Is there anything that you feel would be important for people to know or any issues we might not have touched on that would be important, that are important to you that you would like people to know?

Martin: Just two of the things. One thing I forgot to mention regarding education is that I'd mentioned before that we have Centralia Hallsville, Columbia and Ashland schools. And my thought there is that if you're happy with that school, that's good. Stay there. But I think there should be some options as well. And so there's a lot of loyalty to our schools and that's great. If you're happy with the education. I think it's good to have some options as well, like the, the charter schools, things like that.

I would say another thing to kind of close is that you know, being from here, born and raised in Boone County, with my experience, I'm a small business owner, so I definitely am fine for small business, economic growth, things like that as a pastor. So I'm from the area, I know the area, my business Pro Pumping and Hydrojetting, lots of lots of customers all through. We serve about a 50-mile radius around Columbia so I know a lot of people through my business. And so my business leadership, my church leadership, I think I'm very experienced and think that you know, that I have the qualities to do a good job of leading in the 44th.