Interview with Stephen Webber, candidate for Missouri Senate District 19
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Stephen Webber is a Democrat running for the Missouri Senate District 19. He is a lifelong resident of Boone County and went to Hickman High School. He is also a former state representative for the Columbia area.
Webber's platform includes abortion rights, minimum wage increase, safe communities and getting guns out of the hands of criminals.
Missouri Senate District 19 covers all of Boone County. Webber is going up against Republican James Coyne.
Erika McGuire: Can you give me a little background about yourself?
Stephen Webber: So I grew up here in Boone County. Went to Columbia Public Schools from kindergarten at Grant [Elementary School] all the way through graduating at Hickman, went to law school at Mizzou, spent several years in the Marine Corps and then represented Columbia in the state house for eight years. I currently work for labor unions and running for the state Senate here in all of Boone County.
McGuire: What made you want to run for Senate 19 and represent Boone County? What makes you a great candidate?
Webber: I think that there's so much that happens in Jefferson City that impacts our community. This is a community that's built around education. It's built around health care, and so many of those things are influenced at the state level. I think Jeff City is broken. I think that the MAGA super majority there has not gotten anything done for the last few years, and has actually hurt a lot of institutions that are important to this community and have infringed on our personal freedoms and have just been bad for the state. And I think I can do a lot to stand up for our community and hopefully make things better for people.
McGuire: Okay, now let's talk about Amendment 2. Are you in favor of sports betting?
Stephen Webber: I personally support it. I think that we should be allowed to sports bet. So much of that has become a fight between different casino groups. And so I don't know if I believe all the arguments the that either side are making, but I personally think that we should be allowed. I mean, I guess the thing is adults should be able to decide to do.
McGuire: What's your thoughts on it, like going towards the education. And could you touch on that?
Webber: I think one of the things I personally believe that adults should be able to sports bet, but if they want to, I don't think that the education argument is necessarily a good argument either way. I think the money is going to go, if it passes, it's going to go general revenue and the legislature is going to appropriate it. So if I was advising somebody on how to vote on it, I wouldn't vote yes or no based on where the money is going, because I think that that is still up for debate. I would vote yes or no based on whether I think adults should be allowed to sports bet or not. So for me, that's a yes, but I would, that's how I would make that decision if I was an undecided voter looking at it.
McGuire: Okay, now let's move to Amendment 3. What are your thoughts on that and the initiative petition process that got it on the ballot for this year?
Stephen Webber: I'm a strong supporter of Amendment 3. Basically, I believe that these decisions should be women's decisions, the government shouldn't be involved. And I think Amendment 3 is important to restoring those freedoms that MAGA has really taken away a lot of freedoms from people, which I think is ironic, because I know historically, the Republican Party has been one of championing freedom, but with this new MAGA movement, they're actually taking away individual freedoms and liberties. I think that Amendment 3 is important for restoring that freedom to women, and I think the initiative process is incredibly important. That's how we as citizens of the state have a direct voice in our democracy. It's obviously the closest thing to direct democracy that we have, and it's how we overcome the dysfunction in the Republican supermajority legislature, is through the initiative petition process. So things like Medicaid expansion, things like defending union rights, things like cleaning up our campaign system and now restoring women's reproductive freedom are all things that are being done directly through the initiative petition process, which is why it's so important that we keep that okay.
McGuire: Being a Columbia native, you grew up here. From what I've been told that, you know, the crime has increased over the past years. What do you think needs to be done to address that?
Webber: There's not one specific thing. So if you say, hey, there's one thing that's not, and I've talked people from all different parts of the community, I think there's general consensus around that. I think one of the most direct things, though, is we got to get guns away from criminals. I think that's something that hopefully everybody can come together and agree on -- let's start with criminals, don't let criminals have guns, and certainly beyond that, let's not criminalize police officers who are trying to enforce gun laws, which is something that the SAPA, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, tried to do, and it's a big dividing line in the state. So I think there's lots of different things need to be done, but I would start there.
McGuire: Okay, could you maybe touch on like one other thing you think that needs to be done to address it?
Webber: Sure. I think that we need to give, I think every kid needs to have a belief that they can make something of their life and they can they need to have a future they can see and they can believe in. Yeah, I think if a kid doesn't see a future for themselves, then it's easier to fall into crime and other problems. And so that means creating more economic opportunity, making sure we have quality schools, and making sure that everybody sees a chance, a path for them to be something that they want to be when they grow up. And if kids don't see that or don't have that opportunity, then crime is going to be a more appealing path, I suppose.
Erika McGuire: Okay, and then let's talk about homelessness. You know, it's kind of a big issue here in Columbia as well. What do you think needs to be done to address that issue as well?
Stephen Webber: I mean, a lot of that is a city issue, and I know that the city's going to debate a lot of that. From the state perspective, I think that two big things, or a couple of big things, are what we can do with housing affordability. So the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program has been something that I've been supportive of for a long time, and making sure we protect that program and hopefully even expand that program to provide more low-income housing opportunities, making sure that we fully fund mental health is critically important, and services to help people overcome addiction. I mean, I think at the state level, those are the bigger picture things that we can try to do, to try to take on that challenge.
McGuire: Okay, and I'm only going to ask this because I want to have, you know, give you both the same amount of time to answer, to address it. But he you kind of touched on, just enough housing. Do you think that there is enough housing here?
Webber: I mean, the way the prices are going up, like, clearly, we need more housing. No, I don't know so much of that has to do with zoning laws it's like a city or county-level thing. From the state level, I think the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program is probably the most direct impact on the price of housing, and so protecting that program is important. So I think from the state level, that's probably what we should do.
McGuire: What would be your top priority if you are elected? I guess your top three. Let's talk top three.
Webber: I was gonna say I think it's hard to narrow, just one thing. I think that this is a community that really values public schools, and making sure that children have good educational opportunities is critically important. And so I think that would probably be my first thing is protecting public schools. I think Amendment 3 is going to pass. I think it's going to restore women's reproductive freedom and give women the power to make those choices. And we know that the MAGA majority is going to come after Amendment 3. They don't care that the majority of people are going to vote for it. They're going to try to overturn it.
And so one of my roles in the Senate is going to be to protect what the voters pass. And if voters pass Amendment 3 and say that women should have these freedoms, I'm not going to let MAGA come back, try to take them away without a fight. So protecting that, and then I think making sure we have safe communities, making sure that this is a place that people feel like they can raise their kids they feel safe walking up and down the street at night. That's critically important. And so I think those would probably be three of the most important things would be protecting our schools, protecting reproductive freedom, and making sure we have safe communities.
