Candidates for Missouri House District 137 are Incumbent Representative Darin Chappell and Bryce Lockwood. The candidates were interviewed by Carrie Richardson with Leadership Springfield and Rosie, two of the nonpartisan organizations that make up the Informed Voter Coalition.
Darin Chappell
Richardson: Thank you very much for joining us.
Chappell: It's my privilege.
Richardson: Let's begin by having you introduce yourself and tell us why you decided to run for this office. You have one minute.
Chappell: So my name is Darin Chappell, and I am the current state representative for the 137th District in the Missouri House. And I'm running because the job's not finished, still have work to do protecting the liberties of my district. And I'm going to continue as long as they allow me to do so.
Richardson: Amendment 3 would repeal the Reproductive Rights Amendment voters approved in 2024 and replace it with a ban that includes exemptions for medical emergencies, fetal anomaly, rape and incest under 12 weeks. It would also add a constitutional ban on gender affirming medical care for minors. How will you vote on Amendment 3, and given that the gender affirming care provision largely duplicates existing law, what do you see as its actual practical effect if passed?
Chappell: I will be supporting Amendment 3, and although the gender affirming care is dealt with in current law, that law was upheld by the Supreme Court before the question of Article 1, Section 36 was taken into account. So the law was upheld by the Supreme Court under Article 1, but it was not under Article 30 or Section 36, which is the previous Amendment 3 that was passed in '24. So when that gets brought before, we believe that that will be ruled unconstitutional under the current constitutional established parameters. And so we believe that it is necessary for voters to understand that, in order to protect children from the various hormone therapies for transgender efforts, that, that Amendment 3 has to be supported, in addition to the reduction of the number of abortions that would occur in the state.
Richardson: Voters rejected Amendment 4 by nearly 80% in August, which would have made it far harder to pass citizen initiated constitutional amendments. Given that the legislature referred that measure to the ballot and may bring back similar proposals to restrict the initiative petition process, would you oppose or support further attempts to raise the threshold for citizen initiatives?
Chappell: I absolutely support that. It should not be the case that simply collecting signatures of individuals who may or may not understand what's on the petition itself, because frequently is not explained — we've got it on tape where individuals, in fact, will be dishonest about what's on the petition, and people will sign it simply because they don't want to be rude. So signatures get on, on the petitions, certified. It goes on the ballot, and then we are at the at the risk of the billionaires from not only outside the state, but outside of the country, funneling money in for disinformation on various topics. And then individuals pass the proposed amendment by 50% plus one, and it goes into the constitution. 50% plus one is too low of a standard for amending the Constitution of the State of Missouri or any state. At the national level, we don't, we see 75% of states have to agree to an amendment to the constitution. Fifty percent plus one is just too low of a standard. We've been asked multiple years now to bring forth IP reform. A format was brought forth that I was not terribly in favor of, but the voters said no. We will try again and try to find the mix where they are comfortable with it.
Richardson: Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed income tax overhaul, Amendment 5, this year. What is your specific position on state tax policy going forward, including whether you'd support any changes to the income tax, sales tax or property tax structure?
Chappell: So I was on the Interim Property Tax Reform Committee last year. I'm still on the standing committee now, and we are looking for ways to try to help people with their property taxes. Furthermore, I filed legislation that passed the House, did not pass the Senate, but it passed the House that would limit what somebody's property may be assessed to, to the amount that they actually paid for their home Because in this country, we do not tax unrealized gains except for real property taxes, and it ought not be so. Furthermore, the last four times that I've been able to, I have filed the Missouri Fair Tax, which would do away with the income tax and replace it with a sales tax but only on new items, not used, and at a very specific 5.11% rate. And it would require the local communities to adjust theirs as well so that the average person would not see any increase whatsoever at the cash register. And that, that, I believe is absolutely imperative. But furthermore, it's the only tax idea that I'm aware of that offers a prebate to everyone who is at or below the poverty level. And so everyone would receive a check to offset that first $9,000 worth of earnings in the in, the sales taxes that they would pay. So that was one of the biggest complaints about Amendment 5 was what would it do to the poor? What would it do to seniors? And the fair tax deals with that proactively. And so I'll be filing that again.
Richardson: A 2025 state law allows utility companies to charge customers for power plants that are still under construction. Do you support keeping repealing or amending that law? And what specific change would you make if you could rewrite it?
Chappell: So I voted against that bill. And I understand what they're trying to accomplish, but the reality of it is, is that the money has to come from somewhere. It's either going to come from the ratepayers to bring that equipment or that facility online or it's going to come from the individuals who are building it, either from their profit margins or from loans that they undertake. And although I understand that it's extraordinarily expensive and we want to have energy opportunities here in the state of Missouri, people depend upon it, I don't believe that the voters, the ratepayers, should be the ones to bear that burden until it's up and running and they're actually utilizing it. And so I'm not going to support that. And I would look to make modifications at every opportunity.
Richardson: Rural hospitals and health care access remain an ongoing concern across much of Missouri. What is one specific state level action you would support to address rural healthcare access or hospital closures?
Chappell: So I am the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee of Health, Mental Health and Social Services. So all of these budgetary items come across my desk. One of the biggest issues that we have are the requirements that current medical facilities have to approve new ones being built. There's a process by which somebody says, I want to put a clinic here. I want to put a hospital here, and they have to get permission from those hospitals and medical organizations that are already serving that area. And I don't know how it is that we can say there's not enough medical care available in the rural community, but we still need this protection for the current facilities. It doesn't make sense to me. And so I would make it to where the regulation was changed and individuals that wanted to put in a hospital or a clinic or doctor's office, whatever the case may be, they could do so as long as they meet local guidelines at the county and municipal level.
Richardson: And to conclude, please tell us what your top priorities will be if you are reelected. You have two minutes.
Chappell: Yeah, the budget is the big one. We were able to cut $4.11 billion out of the Missouri state budget this past year. And we're going to have to cut that much again this coming year. Now, the vast majority of that is going to be money coming from Washington, D.C., but the actual budget itself is $1.7 billion too short. And we can't just eliminate taxes on various things and not take that into account. The reality of it is, is that we don't, we don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. And the money that's being spent oftentimes is out of our control. Medicaid expansion, for example, we went from 850,000 to 1.4 million people almost overnight. And it's anticipated here in the next couple of years that Medicaid will actually be costing the State of Missouri — I'm not talking about the national government's portion, but the state's portion somewhere around $20 billion, which would be unbelievably impossible for us to be able to absorb those costs. So we have to find areas wherein we can reduce expenditures and waste, fraud, abuse all the various aspects of government that unfortunately, we find almost everywhere we look. We just have to be able to suss it out, identify it, and reduce it. I don't want a single dollar to be wasted on fraud or wastefulness because I need that dollar to take care of the issues that people actually need. The governor's budget called for a reduction for the self-directed care, for particularly children with terrible diseases and difficulties. It was an $85 million reduction, and I fought like crazy to make sure that that was reinstated. And it was, and people would say, well, you're the one that's always wanting to cut the budget, why are you trying to spend $85 million on this? Because those people are the ones who cannot do without it. They are the least capable of fending for themselves. And I, I want us to make sure that we take care of those individuals at every turn, wherever we can, and I will fight for those.
Richardson: That concludes our interview. Thank you again very much for taking time to talk to us.
Chappell: It's my privilege. Thank you for having me again.
Richardson: I've been speaking with Darin Chappell, who's a candidate for Missouri House district 137.
Bryce Lockwood
Richardson: Thank you so much for joining us.
Lockwood: Good afternoon. Thank you for having me.
Richardson: Would you please introduce yourself and tell us why you decided to run for this office? You have one minute.
Lockwood: My name is Bryce Lockwood, and I'm running for this office because it's about time that we had someone in charge in Jefferson City that listens to the voice of the people instead to the voices of power.
Richardson: Amendment 3 would repeal the Reproductive Rights Amendment voters approved in 2024 and replace it with a ban that includes exceptions for medical emergencies, fetal anomaly, rape and incest under 12 weeks. It would also add a constitutional ban on gender affirming medical care for minors. How will you vote on Amendment 3, and given that the gender affirming care provision largely duplicates existing law, what do you see as its actual practical effect if passed?
Lockwood: I will vote no on Amendment 3. What women do in their own bedroom is their own privilege. No politician in Jefferson City has the right to tell a woman what or what she cannot do with her own body. And I'm very much in favor of Planned Parenthood, by the way. I had a daughter several years ago, when we were having a very difficult financial time, could not afford medical care. She had a problem. Planned Parenthood caught her cervical cancer. And as a result of my support now for Planned Parenthood, women are going to be able to find out whether or not they can afford to have the care they nee, and especially if it involves cancer and personal basis.
Richardson: Voters rejected Amendment 4 by nearly 80% in August, which would have made it far harder to pass citizen initiated constitutional amendments. Given that the legislature referred that measure to the ballot and may bring back similar proposals to restrict the initiative petition Process, would you oppose or support further attempts to raise the threshold for citizen initiatives?
Lockwood: I am definitely opposed to raising the threshold for, for the initiative petition. Several times now, in the last not too many years, we have overcome lawmakers in Jefferson City pertaining to minimum wages, pertaining to right to work and pertaining to a voter access with initiative petition. This last time, there were over 300,000 signatures raised to fight this raising of the initiative petition. It's about time that that the legislators, senators or governor listen to the voice of the people.
Richardson: Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed income tax overhaul, Amendment 5, this year. What is your specific position on state tax policy going forward, including whether you'd support any changes to the income tax, sales tax or property tax structure?
Lockwood: I think it's about time that wealthy people paid their fair share. Not too many years ago, I was doing my income tax. I had to pay a rather substantial tax on long term income. And two years ago, I made more income than I did that previous year and yet I didn't have to pay any tax. It's because the state had waived long term capital gains taxes. And I think that's unfair to working people, especially when taxes need to be paid in order to have public utilities, public highways, public libraries, public safety. That's got to come from tax money. And if we completely do away with personal taxes and property taxes, that has to come in the form of increased sales taxes. Well, if it's increase in sales taxes, guess who pays for that? The person in the street that can't afford it. A much larger percentage of their wages is going to go for taxes than it will be for the wealthy. It's time the wealthy pay their fair share.
Richardson: A 2025 state law allows utility companies to charge customers for power plants that are still under construction. Do you support keeping, repealing or amending that law? And what specific change would you make if you could rewrite it?
Lockwood: Oh, the power. Yes. We do need power. But excuse me. Not too long ago, we had some subsidies for solar power. I have a solar power panel at my home, and it's greatly reduced my electric bill that I pay each month. I also have an electric vehicle, and that makes it much easier for me to get around. And most of that electricity comes from my power panel. Previous to my getting my electric vehicle, that power was going back to public service and I was not getting credit for it. It's about time that we did something about allowing for solar power and wind power and did away with these terrible power plants that are burning coal and poisoning our people.
Richardson: Rural hospitals and health care access remain an ongoing concern across much of Missouri. What is one specific state level action you would support to address rural health care access or hospital closures?
Lockwood: I would say get Medicaid back in focus again. Not too many years ago, our state turned down $350 million in federal funds for Medicaid. That would have kept our rural hospitals open. The person that lives out in the country has a sudden emergency, how are they going to get to the hospital, especially if our rural hospitals have been closed, as many of them have? Twenty-six rural hospitals in Missouri been closed in just the past few years. They just couldn't keep up. And it's about time that we subsidize public health care to where people can afford the health care that they need without having to go to the emergency room of a hospital.
Richardson: And to conclude, please tell us what your top priorities will be if you are elected. You have two minutes.
Lockwood: My top priorities are support for public schools. I have two daughters that are both retired schoolteachers. My oldest daughter retired after over 30 years of teaching gifted children. When she earned her doctorate in teaching gifted children, I tried to convince her to move back here to Missouri, where she could be closer to her grandchildren, my great grandchildren. She said, "Dad, Missouri can't afford me." We do not pay our teachers, and it's no wonder their children are having difficulty learning. $50 million this past fiscal year was taken from public school funds and given to a voucher program for parochial schools and Christian schools. That's money that public schools can't afford to lose. Public schools have to teach everyone. They can't pick and choose whether or not they want to teach a gay child or a child that has a disability. Public schools have to have that money, and it's about time we gave full support to our public schools and paid our teachers a fair living wage.
Richardson: That concludes our interview. Thank you so much for taking time to talk to us.
Lockwood: And I appreciate Ozarks Public Television and especially KSMU. Thank you for inviting me.