State Sen. Bill Eigel (R-Weldon Spring) is considering a Missouri gubernatorial bid in 2024. He says Missouri desperately needs leadership in a number of areas, including transportation. Senator Eigel has a proposal to rebuild I-70 from Wentzville to Blue Springs, making it four lanes in each direction. He says it would not require a tax increase. Senator Eigel tells 939 the Eagle’s “Wake Up Mid-Missouri” that a major proposal like that probably needs GOP Governor Mike Parson’s support. The governor’s plan is not as large as Senator Eigel’s plan: Parson has requested an $859-million appropriation to widen and rebuild the I-70 corridor and to add a third lane in the Columbia, St. Louis and Kansas City areas:
(AUDIO): Missouri’s Ashcroft making gubernatorial run in 2024
Missouri’s secretary of state is running for governor in 2024.
Republican Jay Ashcroft made his official announcement early this morning in a two-minute and 20 second video on social media. His video criticizes what he describes as career politicians. Mr. Ashcroft says that he’s running to serve the people, and tells 939 the Eagle that he sees a lot of potential in Missouri that we aren’t using.
“We are not being as good as we can be. We are not leading this country in ways that we should. We’re not a state where parents can know that their children are getting to get good jobs and stay in Missouri. People are scared to move here, they’re worried about the education their kids will get. Companies are scared to move to parts of Missouri because of crime and concerns about that,” Ashcroft says.
Mr. Ashcroft says education will be one of his top priorities, if he’s elected governor.
“For decades we’ve had a problem in this state where not every child had the opportunity to get a good education. I think it’s long past time every child had the opportunity to get a challenging education, and every parent in the state had the same opportunity to choose where their child went to school that I do,” Ashcroft says.
He tells 939 the Eagle that state government is getting richer and richer, noting the state has a record surplus. He’s calling for returning more money to taxpayers.
Ashcroft will face Missouri Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe in the GOP gubernatorial primary, which could also include State Sen. Bill Eigel (R-Weldon Spring) and others. Governor Mike Parson plans to retire after his term expires. The Democratic field is unclear. Official filing for the position opens in February.
Ashcroft was elected secretary of state in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020. Ashcroft, a Jefferson City high school graduate, will join us live this morning at 7:10 in-studio to discuss his gubernatorial bid.
Veteran Missouri state senator wants to see paper ballots and hand-counting
Legislation requiring paper ballots and the hand-counting of ballots has been filed by a veteran Missouri lawmaker.
State Sen. Bill Eigel (R-Weldon Spring), who chairs the Senate General Laws Committee, also wants to eliminate most voting machines.
“We hand counted ballots in this country the first 200 years of our existence. In every other modern democracy of the world, they’re hand-counting ballots. When we got away from that, I think it started back in the 2000 (presidential) election, you remember the election of the hanging chads down in Florida. We started thinking that the world would be better if we had the machines doing it,” Eigel says.
Senator Eigel’s Senate Bill 98 would allow for the use of voting machines for individuals with disabilities.
“Protecting our elections, security our elections. Again, that’s protecting our rights, that’s being the defender of our securities, our rights and our freedoms. And I think that’s a powerful message not just in a group like this in Columbia, but all over the state,” says Eigel.
His bill would also require all ballots to contain a watermark of the seal of Missouri in the top right-hand corner, and the ballots would have to be produced in the United States. He’s hopeful his bill will be approved in the Senate, which has a 24-10 GOP supermajority.
Senator Eigel spoke recently before a standing-room only audience in Columbia. He’s also unveiled an $8-billion plan to rebuild heavily-traveled I-70 from Wentzville to Blue Springs, making it four lanes in each direction.
GOP lawmaker says his proposal rebuilds I-70 across Missouri, without raising taxes
A veteran state senator from eastern Missouri’s Weldon Spring has unveiled a proposal to rebuild heavily-traveled I-70 from Wentzville to Blue Springs, making it four lanes in each direction.
State Sen. Bill Eigel (R-Weldon Spring) traveled to Columbia on Friday to address the Pachyderms at Dickey’s barbecue. His presentation drew a standing-room only audience. Eigel, who chairs the Senate General Laws Committee, tells 939 the Eagle that his proposal would not require a tax increase.
“Nobody needs to pay anymore in taxation, we got plenty of money down in Jefferson City. But we’re going to set aside some of that record level of sacrifice that taxpayers are already providing. We’re going to set aside about $2.5 billion over the next ten years and add some of the surplus that we already have at the state level to the tune of about another billion-and-a-half,” Eigel says.
Senator Eigel says a federal match of 50 percent would give Missouri the $8-billion needed to complete the project. State transportation officials have said that congestion in St. Louis and Kansas City and along Interstates 70 and 44 in Missouri is causing an annual economic loss of $575-million.
You’ll be heading to the polls in 2024 to vote on Senator Eigel’s proposal, if lawmakers approve his Senate Joint Resolution nine. He says it’s badly-needed.
“I mean ideally I’d like to go from border to border. Some of the plans I’ve seen in the past go from about the Blue Springs area to the Wentzville area. When we get some of those costs in, I would be willing to allocate additional funding so that we could get from border to border”,” says Eigel.
Former Senate Transportation Committee chair Doug Libla (R-Poplar Bluff) opposes the plan, saying funding out of general revenue would have Missourians paying for it. Libla says out-of-state travelers would get “a free ride”, unless they buy something like a Twinkie as they pass through.
Missouri’s 2023 legislative session begins on January 4 in Jefferson City.
(AUDIO): State Sen. Bill Eigel appears live on 939 the Eagle’s “Randy Tobler show”
Outspoken State Sen. Bill Eigel (R-Weldon Spring) is one of the former members of the Missouri Senate Conservative Caucus, which disbanded this week. Senator Eigel, who chairs the Senate General Laws Committee, is calling for a new coalition of leadership in the Missouri Senate GOP caucus. Republicans currently have a 24-10 supermajority. Eigel joined Randy …