Every week, St. Louis Public Radio and the Beacon's Chris McDaniel, Jo Mannies and Jason Rosenbaum talk about the week’s politics.
Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder becomes the third statewide official to appear on the podcast, following state Auditor Tom Schweich and Secretary of State Jason Kander. The Republican has been Missouri’s lieutenant governor since 2005; he also was the first GOP lawmaker in decades to become president pro tem of the Missouri Senate.
Kinder spoke in depth about his fight with Gov. Jay Nixon – and some Senate Republicans – over low-income housing tax credits. He also talked about his support of “right to work” and provided some insight into his chilly relationship with Nixon. He also was asked about his future political plans.
During the show, Kinder:
- Questioned whether ordinary Missourians were much interested in limiting low-income or historic tax credits. During his state Senate career and his tenure as lieutenant governor, he said that no ordinary citizen ever told him that revamping tax credits was a major priority.
- Criticized Nixon’s administration for prompting the Missouri Housing Development Commission to delay issuing low-income tax credits. He said such a move was an affront to the commission's independence.
- Said he talked with Attorney General Chris Koster about low-income housing tax credits.
- Predicted that “right to work” would pass the Missouri House and would have the votes to pass the Missouri Senate. During last week’s show, Senate Minority Leader Jolie Justus, D-Kansas City, said Senate Democrats would fight to block any bill – even a ballot item – from coming to a vote. Kinder, though, compared those comments to “trash talking before the Super Bowl.”
- Noted that he has had two “substantive” conversations with Nixon since the Democrat was elected governor in 2008. “It is his choice to reject my offer of help with these big Republican majorities,” he said. “And I don’t need the work helping him, although I have helped him nonetheless when he got in trouble.”
Follow Chris McDaniel on Twitter: @csmcdaniel
Follow Jo Mannies on Twitter: @jmannies
Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum
Follow Peter Kinder on Twitter: @PeterKinder
