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Covering state lawmakers, bills, and policy emerging from Jefferson City.

Politically Speaking: Sen. Hegeman on tax credits and the Senate’s relationship with Greitens

Sen. Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby
Erin Achenbach I St. Louis Public Radio
Sen. Dan Hegeman, R-Cosby

On the latest edition of the Politically Speaking podcast, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies are pleased to welcome Sen. Dan Hegeman to the program for the first time.

The Cosby Republican represents most of northwest Missouri in the Missouri Senate. The 12th Senatorial District has the largest geographic area of any House or Senate seat.

Hegeman is one of the few lawmakers who served before term limits went into effect. He also was in office before Republicans took over control of the Missouri Legislature.After leaving office in 2003, Hegeman became U.S. Congressman Sam Graves’ associate district manager. He also served as the president of Andrew County’s Farm Bureau.

Since rejoining the legislature after 2015, Hegeman has handled some major pieces of legislation. He was the Senate sponsor of a measure barring cities from raising their minimum wages. And he’s handled legislation this year that would pare down tax credits, an idea that’s often run into opposition in the Missouri General Assembly.

When he first sought the 12th District Senate seat in 2014, Hegeman didn’t have a Republican or Democratic opponent. He plans to run for a second term later this year.

Here’s what Hegeman had to say during the show:

  • Hegeman’s district is largely agricultural. And he says that “our ag economy is in somewhat of a downturn and the market is very difficult for farmers out there.” Towns in his district, he said, are either dealing with issues that come from growth or problems that emanate from decline.
  • He’s hopeful that lawmakers will come to the table to alter the state low-income housing tax credit, which is currently not being issued. “I hope that we can find some room for discussion and negotiation and compromise to find the place where we can move forward on this program,” he said.
  • Hegeman said he’s heard a lot of feedback about cuts that were made last year to in-home care services. “I really do have some nursing homes that I’m convinced are struggling right now,” he said. “They provide a service to these folks. Many of these folks that they have in their homes are on the Medicaid roles, something to the level of 70 percent in many of my facilities.”
  • He said he would consider it a win “if we could just not cut higher education” during this legislative session. For the second year in a row, Gov. Eric Greitens’ budget suggested big cuts to colleges and universities. Northwest Missouri State University is in Hegeman’s district.


Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum

Follow Jo Mannies on Twitter: @jmannies

Music: “Black Cow” by Steely Dan

Copyright 2018 St. Louis Public Radio

Since entering the world of professional journalism in 2006, Jason Rosenbaum dove head first into the world of politics, policy and even rock and roll music. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Rosenbaum spent more than four years in the Missouri State Capitol writing for the Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri Lawyers Media and the St. Louis Beacon. Since moving to St. Louis in 2010, Rosenbaum's work appeared in Missouri Lawyers Media, the St. Louis Business Journal and the Riverfront Times' music section. He also served on staff at the St. Louis Beacon as a politics reporter. Rosenbaum lives in Richmond Heights with with his wife Lauren and their two sons.
Jo Mannies has been covering Missouri politics and government for almost four decades, much of that time as a reporter and columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the first woman to cover St. Louis City Hall, was the newspaper’s second woman sportswriter in its history, and spent four years in the Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau. She joined the St. Louis Beacon in 2009. She has won several local, regional and national awards, and has covered every president since Jimmy Carter. She scared fellow first-graders in the late 1950s when she showed them how close Alaska was to Russia and met Richard M. Nixon when she was in high school. She graduated from Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana, and was the daughter of a high school basketball coach. She is married and has two grown children, both lawyers. She’s a history and movie buff, cultivates a massive flower garden, and bakes banana bread regularly for her colleagues.