The Informed Voter Coalition is made up of these nonprofit organizations: Be Civil, Be Heard ; Drury University’s L.E. Meador Center for Politics & Citizenship; Junior League of Springfield; KSMU Ozarks Public Radio; Leadership Springfield; League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri; Missouri State University’s Office of Public Affairs; NAACP Springfield; Rosie; Show Me Christian County; Springfield Business Journal; Springfield-Greene County Library District; and the Springfield News-Leader.
You can hear the interviews recorded at KSMU by clicking on the "listen" button above or watch videos of the interviews recorded by Nathan Papes and Greta Cross of the Springfield News-Leader.
Candidates were interviewed individually and asked the same questions. They had one minute to introduce themselves and two minutes to respond to each question. Questions were submitted by Informed Voter Coalition partner organizations and were not provided to the candidates in advance. The order of the candidate interviews was determined by a random drawing.
I am Lesley Carrier with the League of Women Voters, one of the nonpartisan organizations that make up the Informed Voter Coalition. Today, we are interviewing candidates for Missouri House District 133. They are Melanie Stinnett and Derrick Nowlin.
Missouri House District 133
Melanie Stinnett
Our first candidate today is Melanie Stinnett. Thank you very much for being with us.
"Absolutely. Thank you for having me."
Let's begin by having you introduce yourself and tell us why you decided to run for office.
"Okay. As you said, my name is Melanie Stinnett. I currently represent District 133, which is the central and southwest part of Springfield. I am a healthcare provider, a speech pathologist by trade, and ran a small business serving children and adults with disabilities in our community. And it was really through that work that I found my way to the legislature, because there were challenges in providing care for those children. That led me to go to the Capitol and advocate on behalf of small business and health care and children with disabilities. And so I spent several years doing that. And while I was doing that, found that there weren't a lot of people in the legislature with a strong health care background, and so decided that that was an important piece that we needed to have in our legislature, and especially with Springfield having such a strong piece of our economy tied to health care and so many jobs tied to health care, I felt like it was really important to have strong health care representation in the Capitol."
In what ways have you actively collaborated with the communities in your district to understand their needs?
"So last cycle and this cycle, I've spent a lot of time knocking doors and talking with people within my district, with my background, with individuals with disabilities. I've visited with many organizations that serve individuals with disabilities. It's actually what led me to filing several pieces of legislation. My first year we worked on a bill called the Ticket to Work Health Insurance Plan or Program, that allows individuals with disabilities in our community to be able to work in competitive, integrated employment options while maintaining their state health insurance plan. And that was really important because of the work force needs that we have in our community and the dignity that that gives to individuals with disabilities to work in our community. Also the child care piece. We passed a bill this year that I filed that had to do with serving children with medical complexities and allowing them to be able to attend daycare with a nurse on site. So a lot of those conversations start at the door, you know? Another bill that I filed was based on a conversation at the door last cycle with voting rights restoration and allowing individuals to be able to get their voting rights back once they're no longer incarcerated. And all of those conversations I take very seriously at the door and listening to the needs of my community and my constituents."
Proposition A, which will be on the November ballot, establishes a $13.75 per hour minimum wage by 2025. This will, which would be increased by $1.25 per hour each year until 2026, at which point the minimum wage will then be $15 per hour. It also requires employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Do you support Proposition A? Why or why not?
"I think this is a complex issue this year because we have such significant inflation and people don't feel like their wages have caught up necessarily with inflation. But as a small business owner, I have concerns with, you know, kind of laying out government regulations for where those things have to be. I think it's a challenge when we increase those wages, especially in our service based industries like health care, that results in likely higher costs for our community. So it would be of concern to me to to look at that."
What is your plan for improving access to social services, including mental health care, for vulnerable populations within our state?
"That's a great question. And actually one, I had a conversation this morning with a person, a constituent here in Springfield. We have a major issue with mental health services and services for children and adults with developmental disabilities that have challenging behaviors. And I think we really have to look at reimagining what that looks like in our state. I don't think it's a small fix with just one small piece that I can tell you today that we're going to do x, and it's going to fix the whole trajectory. I think it looks like a collaborative community coming together with the state alongside them to create solutions. I'm impressed with our community already and the work that they're doing around mental health, and I participate in a collaborative that has conversations around that already. I think it looks like really getting engaged with the people who have these concerns and asking them where their access point challenges are. Many of those have to do with workforce and having difficulty with us getting enough workforce in those areas. I think our community has really come around the Health Care Alliance, which is seeking to make some changes and impact positively our pipeline of health care workers in some of those mental health fields, and I would continue to support things like that to make everyday changes now while also at the state level kind of, like I said, reimagining what that looks like from a state perspective."
Amendment 7 will appear on the November ballot. If passed, it will establish that only citizens who are Missouri residents can vote. Currently, you must be a registered Missouri resident to vote in our municipal, state, and federal elections. This amendment also prohibits ranked choice voting in the state of Missouri. Do you support this amendment? Why or why not?
"I think making sure that our law is clear that only citizens can vote is an important thing to do. And I think there are concerns with ranked choice voting and kind of one person, one vote. And that is definitely of concern, so it's something I will be supporting."
What are your budget priorities for the upcoming year and what would you like to see funded specifically for your district?
"So a lot of the funding things that I have focused on have been related to individuals with disabilities, as I've already mentioned, but also maternal health. And so I, in my first year, helped to ensure we had some funding for doula services and a pilot project here in Springfield that then now has turned into the state determining that our Medicaid program should cover doula services and ensuring that women have access to that. We know that those services can help to decrease C-section births and increase pregnancy outcomes. So those are the types of things that I'll continue to work on, kind of finding those spaces in our community and in our state where we are lagging on, making a substantial difference and putting money in those spaces to make a difference for those individuals."
Well, Melanie, that concludes our interview. Thank you very much for taking time to talk with us again.
"Thank you."
Derrick Nowlin
Our next candidate is Derrick Nowlin. Thank you very much for being with us.
"Thank you for having me."
We'll start out with you introducing yourself and tell us why you decided to run for the office.
"My name is Derrick Nowlin. I am a lifelong resident of Springfield, Missouri. And, being from here has definitely shaped who I am. But because of that, I have a I have a deep connection to this community as well. And, one of the reasons I've decided to run is because, there's a lot of reasons, but a lot of it has to do with I don't feel like our community is being represented well in Jefferson City, and I want to be their voice in Jefferson City. There are a lot of issues that I think the people are being left behind on, and I think we need to change that. You know, I love the people in my district. We've got a great district. It is a collection of communities. And again, I feel very strongly about being their voice in Jefferson City and working for them. I'm not going there for me. I'm going there for the people in my district."
In what ways have you actively collaborated with the communities in your district to understand their needs?
"Yeah, I have, I've been very involved locally for a long time. When I was a lot younger, I used to fight actively against — I'm a very ardent anti-racist, I'll put it that way ,and fighting bigotry and prejudice and discrimination as much as I have been able to in the area for most of my life. Also, have worked a lot dealing with disadvantaged communities, especially the homeless communities, have done a lot of work for The Kitchen in the past, for example. And that culminated in me getting directly politically involved about 10 years ago and running for office. This is actually my third time running. But the best part about that, the part I enjoy the most, is you go out and talk to the people in your community, and you don't talk at them, you talk with them, you listen to them. And, you know, you develop a connection with those people. And in three elections, I've, I've, you know, and my own experience has been, a lot of people don't feel heard. They don't feel represented in our state right now,. There are a lot of people out there struggling, you know, with jobs that don't pay enough. Our public schools are under crisis. They're underfunded. People are struggling with access to health care and high prescription drug costs, for example. Everything in our state government comes down to priorities and the people that are in charge. And for too long, our priorities have been not for the people. And it's time for us to to have a set of priorities and a government in place that actually listens to the people and works for them."
Proposition A, which will be on the November ballot, establishes a $13.75 per hour minimum wage by 2025. And that would be increased by $1.25 per hour each year until 2026. Then the minimum wage will be $15 per hour. It also requires employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Do you support proposition A? Why or why not?
I do support Proposition A. Anything that is helping working people, I am all for it, always have been. You know, people in this state generally are not being paid enough. We need to — when people work, they need to get paid a living wage. This is a step towards that. And I think the paid sick leave is also an important part of that because I've known too many people personally, and I'm sure a lot of us have, that if something happens with them or one of their family members where they do require medical care, they don't have the ability to take off work. Having access to health care is a completely different issue altogether. But again, it comes back to, for too long in this state the policies and the priorities have not been looking out for the normal person out there, the person that works for a living. And, frankly, the middle class in this country has not gotten a raise in 40 years as far as that goes. It is time that we start paying people more and that and that we do start taking better care of the people that work for a living. There's a, you know, there's been too many policies that are heavy towards the very wealthy and the well-connected in the state. And instead of talking about things like let's get rid of the corporate tax cut we need to start talking about things like let's pay, let's pay people more, let's pay people more. I strongly believe that when we pay working people more, that a rising tide lifts all boats. All boats. You know, working families, working people, they're the backbone of my district. They're the backbone of this state. And it's time that we start treating them and paying them the way they deserve to be, be paid."
What is your plan for improving access to social services, including mental health care, for vulnerable populations in our state?
"Okay. That is a great question. I would say there's several parts to that. But again, it's kind of like I've said previously, it comes down to policies and priorities, and I feel like those have been not a high priority for a lot of our representatives in Jefferson City. I'm sorry. What was the question again?"
What is your plan for improving access to social services?
"Right, right, right. Sorry. Access to social services. Where I was getting at with that is right now what we have in, what we have in the state, in my estimation, is something where we're basically doing the bare minimum. Yes, we have a Department of Health and Human Services. Yes, we have a Department of Family Services. Are those services adequately funded or staffed? No, they are not. And, you know, I talk to so many people who are having long, long wait times trying to either get an appointment or get access to to the health care that they need. You know, we've had hearing after hearing in Jefferson City where we do hear from these departments, and it always comes down to we're understaffed and we're under-resourced. Again, this is a change in culture, a change in priorities that we could have in Jefferson City to where we do start taking care of the agencies that do provide health care to people in the state that are the backstop for people and make that a priority, which we have not been doing for a long time now."
Amendment 7 will appear on the November ballot. If passed, it will establish that only citizens who are Missouri residents can vote. Currently, you must be a registered Missouri resident to vote in our municipal, state and federal elections. This amendment also prohibits ranked choice voting in the state of Missouri. Do you support this amendment? Why or why not?
I do not support this amendment. You know, as you mentioned, if you're not a legal citizen of the state or the country, it's already illegal for you to vote so I don't know why we need another law saying, once again, it's illegal for you to vote. I personally think this is a a manufactured issue. It plays well during an election year for the Republican Party. But if you look at the numbers, there is not some epidemic of undocumented citizens voting in the state or the country. There just isn't. I think, again, this is an issue that it's already, there's already a law covering this. We don't need to do another law. As far as ranked choice voting goes, I am, I'm a big D democracy kind of guy. And I and that includes people being able to to have more choices when they vote so therefore I actually support ranked choice voting. And, you know, I think the fact that the powers that be are trying to to quell this speaks volumes. I think anything that makes the people's voices more heard is what we need in this state, not something that is going to disenfranchise them even more and make them even less heard. I think if you're a candidate or a party, you know, you should be strong enough to stand on your own ideas and your own positions. And if you're worried about the competition that ranked choice voting might bring into play, then I think that says more about you than it would anyone else running against you."
What are your budget priorities for the upcoming year and what would you like to see funded for your district?
"Oh, budget priorities. First of all, we need to increase funding for public education, and that would definitely improve, affect my district. We have a lot of wonderful public schools in my district, and I'm a strong proponent of public schools. Right now, Missouri is currently 50th in the country as far as the share of the Jefferson City, our state government spends on public schools. You know, do I realistically think we could go from 50th to first? No, but anything's better than 50th. And you know, that impacts our schools, our teachers, the staff, the resources they have. When we invest in public education, we are, first of all, we're setting up our kids for a lifetime of success, and we're also investing in the future of our state. And so to me, this seems a no brainer. And so we need to increase public education funding, including teacher pay. Again, we need to increase funding to the agencies that run some of the health and family services in the state. You know, we just had a hearing last week where there is a bunch of money being left on the table with our education system here in Missouri. Same thing. It's all priorities and policies that are coming out of Jefferson City, and we really need to shift those. And one last thing. There's a lot of infrastructure money that we have, thanks to the federal government, being spent in Missouri. I want to make sure that, first of all, southwest Missouri gets our fair share of that money, that it's spent wisely. But more importantly, the 133rd, because we actually do have a lot of ongoing infrastructure projects that need to be completed and also some future projects that need to be planned for and started."
Well, Derrick, that concludes our interview. Thanks very much for being with us today.
"Thank you."
