THE 100 REPORT
Q & A with Senator Bill Eigel: Senate Winter Meetings
What are the Winter Meetings and what were the major themes of this year’s gathering?
Eigel: Each fall, the Republican Senate Caucus gathers for 2-3 days to discuss the latest issues and policies. More importantly, this is the meeting that is supposed to determine the priorities of the Republican Caucus for the upcoming regular session of the legislature in January. We generally hear from the Governor and state agencies about their needs and requests as well and we also spend time breaking bread with colleagues that we may not have seen in months.
This year, as we met in Branson, Missouri, there were a number of themes present that I had not seen before. The most pressing of these was an extended discussion of concerns about the current leadership team, Caleb Rowden and Dave Schatz. During the last three times we met as a Senate—at the end of the last regular session in May, during the Special Session in June, and during the Veto Session in September, members of the caucus felt leadership had either lied to them or acted in a manner not in keeping with the best traditions of the Missouri Senate and Republican Party.
Another theme was significant dissatisfaction from certain members—notably among the conservative wing of the caucus—that the priorities pushed last session, which including passing a large tax increase and taking votes against the Pro-Life movement—we betraying some of the foundational pieces of the Republican Party platform.
Are these conversations about the effectiveness of leadership common at the Winter Meetings?
Eigel: No—not at all. In fact, I’ve never seen such frustration expressed over leadership members that apparently failed Republican Senators in a very basic way and that was being honest about their decisions and activities. What’s more—at least two members of the Republican caucus that are not considered members of the “Conservative Caucus” mentioned specific examples of when Majority Floor Leader Caleb Rowden lied to them. It was surreal.
Hasn’t Majority Floor Leader Caleb Rowden announced plans to run for Pro Tem of the Senate next year? What is his voting track record?
Eigel: Privately, Caleb Rowden has been making calls to his closest allies indicating he intends to run for Pro Tem. Pro Tem is the top leadership position in the Senate—that’s the position that chooses the chairmanships and determines which bills are sent to what committees. Unfortunately, Caleb’s voting record isn’t good, and many The100 members will remember that Caleb was one of our worst graded senators in our review of 2021 votes. He voted for the gas tax increase, to continue public funding of abortion via Planned Parenthood (twice!) and he also voted to fully fund and expand Obamacare in Missouri.
It isn’t surprising he has been caught lying to Republican senators since he unfortunately hasn’t been honest about his policy views with his own constituents. As bad as his record is, I can’t imagine the Republican Caucus will empower him even more so next year if they can’t trust him.
The100 is dedicated to making sure the leadership of the Missouri Senate is filled with actual conservatives that will vote the way they said they would in campaign season. It doesn’t sound like Caleb Rowden meets that standard. Will the conservatives have a candidate of their own to push for leadership?
Eigel: That is my expectation and my focus. We must have a new alternative to the existing leadership path. The Republican caucus has been moving further and further away from the state GOP platform—led by moderates like Caleb Rowden and Lincoln Hough. But to be successful in a leadership race against Caleb, we must have some success in the upcoming election primary cycle. The results from those six open seats will likely determine who the next leadership team is which is why The100 is so important.
Ok—back to Winter Meetings: Did the governor visit the meetings and if so, what was his message?
Eigel: Yes, Governor Parson visited the caucus. He shared a lot of statistics which, on their surface, would indicate things are going pretty well in Missouri. I asked the Governor directly, however, why, if things were going so well, was the population growth of the state stagnant? Why don’t people want to move here to Missouri like other states? He didn’t have an answer—and neither did some of his allies among my colleagues. I also asked him directly if he supported vaccine mandates by government or private business. He declined to answer that directly also, saying instead it was “up to the legislature to decide that.” I was very disappointed in his answer. I think that if I asked Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott that same question, I would have gotten a much different response. I think we need to look for the next DeSantis or Abbott here in Missouri in 2024.
Speaking of 2024, Lt Governor Mike Kehoe has announced he is running for Governor in 2024. Is he the answer to finding our own Ron DeSantis here in Missouri?
Eigel: No. Not even close. Mike Kehoe represents the same moderate-to-liberal policies that Mike Parson has pursued. You will see more tax increases, bigger bloated government and no reform. If you like Mike Parson, you will love Mike Kehoe. But if you want Ron DeSantis, stay far away from Mike Kehoe.
Didn’t you serve with Mike Kehoe? Has he been that bad?
Eigel: Yes, I did serve with Mike Kehoe. He has repeatedly supported higher taxes, including the most recent tax hike on our gas this year. He will not deliver anything but more mediocrity for Missouri if elected governor. That being said, he will continue to get significant support from establishment special interests that have benefitted from his brand of economic cronyism while he’s been in office the past 12 years. We need a leader that will reform our broken government—from our broken education system to our broken Medicaid system. Republicans win elections as reformers. We need better than Mike Kehoe. But this is a question to address after the 2022 cycle.
You mentioned reforms—were any specific policy priorities mentioned or discussed at the Winter Meetings?
Eigel: Yes, for sure. The priorities discussed included some major reforms of our education system. The fight against Critical Race Theory in our schools will be a major theme of the 2022 session. Also, we discussed election integrity. I would expect movement to finally get Voter ID set in place this year. Requiring a photo ID to vote is a foundational piece of election integrity. The only reason we haven’t passed this already is the failure of our current floor leader, Caleb Rowden, who was able to find time to to pass the largest tax increase in history on our gas but couldn’t find time to secure our elections.
I also led a discussion on cutting taxes—I’ve said for months that we owe the People of this state a tax cut—maybe a few tax cuts. I’d like to start by phasing out personal property tax in Missouri, and continue reducing the income tax in Missouri. That is the answer to the question that Governor Parson couldn’t answer as to why our state isn’t growing; we need a lower tax burden and streamlined government to attract people and businesses to move here. Not more government.
What about Congressional Redistricting?
Eigel: Yes, we spoke about the congressional districting process at length. I’ve been working on a proposed map that, in almost every scenario, would result in a 7-1 partisan split in our congressional delegation—that is, 7 Republicans and 1 Democrat. The proposal complies with all federal and state laws, and I think would best reflect the values of our state with respect to our federal representatives.
Incredibly, several of the most moderate members of the caucus once again stood and fought against the our plan, arguing that a map that would specifically elect more Democrats was a better idea. It appears this will be just one more battle that conservatives will have to lead on. Another reason to be supporting the right candidates in the next election cycle.
What items did the more moderate members of the caucus raise as a concern?
Eigel: Several of them brought up concern with the fact that myself and others are posting their voting records online and educating voters and donors on what they are doing. In fact, that may be the most common comment I heard from them. This of course is no surprise. Naturally, the moderates will want to hide their voting records from the general public. One Senator said “I’ve been getting a lot of calls”. Their discomfort means our plan is working to hold them accountable. Another Senator asked me during the open discussion “My voting record is between me and my voters—what doe that have to do with you and your voters?” Of course, this was a Senator that had voted to increase taxes this year, which my constituents will have to pay.
We need to keep the pressure on the RINOs to achieve actual change in Missouri.
What are the Top 3 predications you will make for 2022?
1) We will make progress on fighting CRT, passing election integrity reform, and protecting the medical rights of Missourians next year.
2) The cost of taking a high number of bad votes against the GOP platform will start to be felt by the moderates in the Republican Missouri Senate Caucus. At least one incumbent moderate Republican will face a major primary challenge and that number could be as high as four.
3)The number of conservatives—ie, folks that vote in line with the GOP platform more than 80% of the time on major policy issues—will continue to increase from its current level of 11 out of 24, possibly taking control of a leadership position.
The 100 Newsletter is intended to be a conservative review of the most up to date, inside information of what is going on in Missouri Politics and does not reflect an endorsement of any campaign or committee.