Who’s Got the Kids?
I was invited this past week to visit Ellington, a community in one of the counties I will pick up come January due to the redistricting process. They wanted to show me how the community, county, and businesses came together to resolve a long-running workforce issue they had––a shortage of childcare. First of all, I’m […]
Yes, the US is STILL the Land of Opportunity
What a treat to be on with Joe Pags to discuss my memoir, Cinder Girl! Breaking the poverty-cycle is absolutely doable, and through the grace of God, my life is proof of that. Watch below as @joetalkshow covers several issues that I speak to in my memoir–domestic violence, poverty, welfare, and more!
Great Theater… but it’s time for the final curtain call.
If this past session did anything, it showed us where our cracks are–as a party, I mean. Lobbing bombs at each other, Republican against Republican, became commonplace. I’m guilty of this as well. As someone who grew up in the trailer parks, I don’t sit still for unworthy attacks; against me, or anyone else. It’s […]
A More Compassionate Approach to Homelessness
We’ve all seen them. The homeless in our communities. Maybe it was while leaving a restaurant late, cutting across an alley downtown to save time, or maybe simply a quick glance into the dark crevices under the overpass as you turned to merge onto the interstate. They are there. Out of sight…at least for the […]
Work Horse vs. Show Horse
Spoken on Missouri Senate floor, March 3, 2022, regarding the continual disingenuous actions of some senators: Working in politics, you see a lot. Big egos—lies—political maneuvering—the majority of which, is rooted in self-interest. That’s why this past week hearing the term tossed around of a “Show horse instead of a workhorse”, kind of struck a nerve. I […]
Let’s Talk Domestic Violence
I’ve learned there are a lot more forms of domestic abuse than someone laying a hand on you. Many forms in fact. I’ve listened as testimony after testimony in the Missouri Senate painted a very clear picture of the extent of these abuses. Technology, for instance, plays a new, and now a very significant role in domestic violence. Stalking, shutting you out of your online accounts, veiled threats via Facebook posts, just to name a few, are all intended to torture you. More often than not, it’s simply to make you pay for not staying and enduring the abuse.
Showing Jesus’ Love
I’ve received several inquiries regarding a vote I cast in the final days of the 2021 session. Along with several other Republican Senators, I voted in support of an amendment that would have prohibited denying access to public transportation services based on sexual orientation or gender identity. A number of my constituents, especially my brothers and sisters in Christ, have asked me to explain my vote, knowing that I have consistently been a “NO” vote to the proposed Missouri Nondiscrimination Act, or “MONA”, as it is often called.
Medicaid reforms could level the playing field between rural, urban hospitals, helping Southeast Missouri
Last week, I elaborated upon the current Missouri Medicaid crisis. Because of the passage of Medicaid expansion into the Missouri Constitution, it is projected that our state will have to spend $200 million more annually. Yes, $200 million! Certainly, it means with a budget hit like this, vital social programs are expected to lose some […]
Fixing Medicaid Expansion
I know how important these services are to people in need. I was raised on this type of program so I know firsthand how many families wouldn’t be able to make it without this help. However, being raised on it, I’ve also watched government programs meant to help people turn out to be the very avenue that holds them down and prevents them from ever realizing their potential.