The Politically Speaking podcast team – Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies – this week welcomed state Sen. Will Kraus, R-Lee’s Summit and a 2016 candidate for Missouri secretary of state.
But first, the duo joined Jefferson City correspondent Marshall Griffin in commemorating the late state Auditor Tom Schweich, who died last Thursday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A memorial service is to be held Tuesday at his church in Clayton.
Schweich, intense and candid, was willing to challenge those within his own party on some issues, which made him a maverick at times. Griffin also recalled Schweich’s hobby of collecting Hollywood memorabilia.
Kraus, meanwhile, has become a key player in the state Capitol. In 2014, he was the chief Senate handler of the tax cut bill. This year, he’s leading the drive to win legislative approval of two bills to require would-be voters to show a government-issued photo ID before casting a ballot.
On the podcast, Kraus’ key observations include:
- If elected secretary of state, he’s promising to “get Missouri government out of the way of small business.” The secretary of state’s job includes oversight of some business-related laws and regulations.
- He is calling for changes in the office’s procedures for online registration of new voters because of concerns about potential fraud.
- He says the 2014 tax-cut plan was put into law, despite Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto, because of backers’ willingness to make concessions to wary legislators, such as requiring state income to increase a certain amount each year before the next stage of tax cut can go into effect.
Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum
Follow Jo Mannies on Twitter: @jmannies
Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter: @MarshallGReport
Follow Sen. Kraus on Twitter: @Kraus4SOS
Music: "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys
