A lawmaker from Springfield has announced his candidacy for speaker of the Missouri House.
Republican Alex Riley currently serves as House majority floor leader, which is the second most influential leadership position in the chamber. He represents District 134, which covers a large portion of southern Greene County.
A press release from the Missouri House states that Riley "has primarily carried legislation to boost Missouri’s economy, eliminate excessive government regulations and reduce poverty" since he was elected in 2020.
In the 2023 session, he sponsored a welfare reform bill, which was signed into law by Governor Parson. In the 2024 session, he sponsored the Regulatory Sandbox Act, which was also signed into law by the governor. It gives innovators and entrepreneurs the opportunity to obtain waivers from government regulations.
Riley is an attorney with Healy Law Offices, LLC.
Riley's House bio states that he is a member of the Missouri Bar Association, the Missouri Organization of Defense Lawyers, the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association and the Network, which is the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Organization.
He holds a B.A. in political science from Thomas Edison State University and a Juris Doctorate from Southern Illinois University.
Riley was born and raised in Springfield, it says, and lives there with his wife, Ellen, and their three young children.
Riley said in a statement that, if elected, he will work to reform what he called the state’s "broken initiative petition process," address crime and public safety, build the economy, improve education outcomes and provide meaningful tax relief.
