Interview with Shane Kampeter, candidate for Missouri’s 60th House District

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Shane Kampeter is a Republican running for Missouri’s 60th House District. Kampeter is a lifelong Jefferson City resident and current Jefferson City Fifth Ward council member. He formerly worked as a civilian employee in the Missouri Army National Guard before creating his small business, Kampeter Remodeling.

Kampeter's platform includes being anti-abortion, supporting religious liberty and gun rights, and supporting strong border control. Spencer is also focused on growing Jefferson City's economy and infrastructure.

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

Suzanne Luther is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

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

Shane Kampeter: Yeah, so, I'm on city council now, and so I've learned a lot more about how the city and the state operate together. And then I think the state doesn't always treat the city the right way. And so, you know, want to fight for Jeff City, want to be involved with, as a state representative that comes back and works with the city as well, talks to the city council.

And then I've got three children, and they're all going to be small business owners in Jeff City. And so, just looking for the future and how I can help support small businesses in town, and so it's not the red tape. Make it easier for them to operate, to run, to start up, the whole gamut of small businesses. And then just on all of it, you know, work with public safety, work with the state offices. I just want to fight for Jeff City and get out there more of a common-sense middle-ground guy.

Moyer: And then maybe could you expand on, I guess, kind of the issues in that connection with Jeff City and the state and the needs that need to be met?

Kampeter: Jeff City is the, you know, the capital is here in Jeff City. And so there's a lot of stuff that comes into Jeff City, and everybody's always asking for needs of the state. And so I feel like being on the city council, having that good working relationship with with the mayor, with the city administrator, with the current council, that I could I could be that guy that can be the middleman, knows what the city wants before they really ask for it, because I would still attend city council meetings, still talk to the council and still talk to the mayor all the time.

And so that way, you know, I'm in tune with what the city wants, and then try to fight for that while fighting for the whole state. But, you know, the 60th District is Jeff City, so somebody needs to fight for it.

Moyer: And then I guess to clarify, what right now, do you see that the city needs, at least from the state?

Kampeter: Grants. We're trying to find work for grants for the High Street Viaduct, you know, is one of the big ones. But there's tons of grants that we're always applying for to try to get things done in Jeff City, and so I think just having that voice up there would definitely help.

Moyer: And then how is the campaign currently going?

Kampeter: I feel like it's going great. I've got my family helping me out, we're knocking doors every night. If I can't be there because I've got an event, my wife and son or my daughters are out doing it. I got some great friends, and my parents are helping me knock doors. So we've made it through Round 1, we're going on Round 2 knocking on doors now, meeting lots of people. I mean, people always say, you know, "What is it like?" And it's, I think it's fun. Meeting all these people, getting to talk to them, you know, seeing what their needs are and how what they think, what they look for in a representative. Just learning a lot, enjoying talking with everybody out there.

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

Kampeter: So I'm not going in with an agenda. I want to go in there if I can get elected, to you know, right off the bat, it would be just learn how everything works, get to know everybody, figure out who the people are you need to work with. So that way, when some of the stuff that I want to do comes up, I can get it done the correct way. But I'd say first thing going in there is just, you know, always fighting for the citizens of Jeff City.

Moyer: While on the campaign trail, kind of going back to that, what issues have you heard from constituents?

Kampeter: Well, I think, you know, a lot of people are confused. They'll give you the stuff that they want more, and the streets to be better, well, that's a city thing. But one of the biggest things is Amendment 5. People, you know, a lot of them are just worried that, what's it going to look like? And so that's, I will say, the biggest topic that is brought up. And a lot of people bring up Jeff City and the state of Missouri, I feel like the backbone is small businesses. So, you know, I've talked to a lot of small business owners that see that red tape. And just listening to them to figure out ways that they think we can change things as a state to make it easier for them to operate, or easier to start up, or continue or grow, and so I think those are the biggest issues.

Moyer: And then kind of already leading into it a little bit, the ballot issues. So I guess for the first one, for Amendment 4, that's also kind of being talked about. How do you feel about Amendment 4? So changing the number of votes required for citizen petitions and just voter reform?

Kampeter: Yeah, so I think there definitely needs to be an IP [initiative petition] reform done. I don't think this one, the wording and the way it's done, I don't think it's the correct way to do it. You know, I haven't delved into exactly what would be. Like I said, it needs to be done, I don't think this is it. I see where the rural people are saying that, you know, they need more of a voice, so, you know, right now it's 50/50. Maybe we can make it 55% or 60%, and that still gives them maybe a little bit more of that chance or even 51%. But there needs to be some reform. But out knocking doors, it's pretty well hard to know with everybody you know, I haven't heard anything.

I'm not for it for the reason of, like I said, I don't think this is, the way it's written, is going to work for the state. But we'll see what happens. Just like 5, I'm glad it's going to the voters, because, you know, that's what we're here for, to listen to what they want.

Moyer: And I'm sorry to be clear, what you've heard is no on 4?

Kampeter: Correct, yeah.

Marie: And then turn to Amendment 5, what are your thoughts, and do you think the state should eliminate income tax?

Kampeter: So same thing as 4, I think there definitely needs to be a real tax reform, but this one being open-ended, you don't know what the next five years are going to look like. As a small business owner, you don't know if you're going to be the one that has to start paying, you know, charging taxes on your services. I deal a lot with real estate. That was a promise that they won't go to real estate, but there's nothing down in writing, same thing with agriculture, there's nothing down in writing.

So I think a lot of people, including myself, we don't see how this is going to work because you don't know. You get rid of one tax, that's going to have to come somewhere else, and so that's where, you know, everybody's worried. What is it going to be on? Is it going to be on that? You know, your haircuts, your lawn care, your food at grocery stores? Will it hit that real estate and agriculture? It's been promised, but you know, who's going to say you can keep a promise if it's not down in writing?

So same thing knocking doors, I haven't heard one person say they were there for it. It's a "no" there and, you know, I'm going to agree with them. I don't see how you can vote on something that you don't know what you're voting on.

Moyer: And I know you mentioned there should be some reforms, I guess, because I've also been asking all the candidates, what could the state utilize or cut to kind of make up for it?

Kampeter: So you mean if it did pass?

Moyer: I guess other solutions.

Kampeter: Yeah, I think one of the solutions would be, you know, looking at the property tax, that would be one that we could do, we could definitely change some stuff on. And getting rid of the state income tax, I think could work, it's just, I don't see how you can vote on it if there's no plan. I know in Florida it's worked, but, you know, they have tourist taxes, they have oil, so it's worked there.

Everybody's using this example of Kansas, they had a plan, so they passed it, and then the next year they got rid of it. So I think it's just one of those things that you've got to, as a state, you've got to look into a little bit more, figure out. I think it definitely could work, we just got to have more of a plan. We can't let five years of legislators try to figure that out with nothing in writing.

Moyer: And then still kind of on the money topic, budget was a hot topic in the General Assembly this year. The state auditor even said the state had a spending problem. So, I guess how would you approach either proposing or supporting new legislation with this in mind?

Kampeter: So definitely, you know, we're struggling in the budget. I mean, everybody is, not just the state, the city, I mean, everybody's struggling. So you're having to find those niches or small different ways to spend money. Definitely need to cut a lot of stuff that we're wasting money. There's a lot of wasteful spending. And I don't think all of it was meant to be, it's just, you know, you test the water here and you figure out, "okay, that was not the thing." So we got to go back to some of that stuff and pull it off the shelf and say, "hey, you know, this didn't work, what we said, so we need to get rid of that."

And that will save some money here, and just look at different, innovative ways to grow economic development. You know, we've got to have economic development, grow it as much as possible to get that budget up, and then look at those spots where we've got that wasteful spending.

Moyer: Could you maybe expand on where some areas that you've seen that maybe count as wasteful spending?

Kampeter: Oh, I would say in several different programs, I mean, it's across the board, and that's not just an answer, it's literally across the board. I think every program, you could find spots in, and I think that's just what somebody is going to dive into those programs, each one of them, and say, "Hey, yeah, this is not doing anything." You might have something in here that says, it's a bill, "We're going to spend this much money to educate people on this bill," or something, but everybody may already know it, and they just put that in there because they thought it was needed. But now they're spending money on it, and they're not doing the education, but the money is. It's just all different types of things that can be can be cut.

Moyer: And then is there anything else that you might want people to know about you?

Kampeter: I'm just a local small business owner here in Jeff City. I'm more of a doer than a talker. So, you know, I just show people what I do. Very involved with the city, volunteer everywhere, doing a lot of development, trying to redevelop the East Capitol, the downtown area, and just putting all my time and effort and money into Jeff City. I love it, I live it, I want my kids to stay here, I want more youth to come into Jeff City, and so that's why I can say that's a big thing, is to fight.

I love Jeff City, and so I want to fight for it and just to continue the growth there.