JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson, who has announced his candidacy to run for election in 2020, invited the press to the Capitol Jan. 30, followed by lunch at the Governor’s Mansion.

Parson took the opportunity to tell the press about himself and his accomplishments during the last two years in office, followed by a question and answer conference.

“In 2015, unemployment in Missouri was over 10 percent, and now it is at 5.5 percent. I believe when you set down with reasonable people to get things done, it can be done,” Parson said during the speaking engagement while touching on many subjects going on in the state.

On Sunshine Law requests, Parson asked the media to be specific on what they are looking for, as he has an entire staff dedicated to meeting the demands of the media and public.

“People try to give a blanket request for everything. If it’s there, we are going to turn it over,” he said. “People are looking for that stability, and I try to make the office available to the press. The worst thing you can say is ‘no comment.’”

As far as his own policies, Parson mentioned infrastructure and workforce — two issues he worked on in 2019 to help prepare the state of Missouri to “get back to work.”

He mentioned a USDA project, now located in Missouri because the state worked together with Kansas to present a plan. Missouri is now 15th in the United States ratings in site locations for businesses trying to match to states, he noted.

“The number one questions they are going to ask you about is your workforce development and your infrastructure,” Parson told the press. “Where it used to be about taxes and utilities — which it still is to some part.”

He thinks people would be surprised by how “spinning” the rural communities to the positive influences potential companies to come to the area.

“In 2020 you are going to see a lot of workforce development stuff, we are going to put a lot more money towards that this year and beef up the workforce development pieces that still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “Stronger, safer communities — we are trying to work on that as much as best we can from the state level — the infrastructure and things we are doing this year is gonna be pretty neat.”

Untapped resources

Parson mentioned the license reciprocity they are trying to do this year that would allow military spouses to join Missouri workforce entities.

“To me it is just critical,” Parson said. “Everybody should want this. We are talking about military spouses coming to the state and being able to go into the workforce. We have got to do a better job in the state of Missouri making sure they are welcome here and we need them in the workforce anyhow.”

Parson said military spouses and their untapped qualifications have always been there, the state has just not been able to utilize them before.

“We need teachers and qualified nurses, and if they have been certified somewhere else, there is no reason we can’t lift that certification to see if it matches ours, give you a license and let’s go to work,” Parson said. “We will see what the legislators do with that.”

Those who buy ads

He also mentioned Wayfair — the practice of online companies not having to pay the same taxes as brick and mortar businesses.

“That’s just a fairness issue,” Parson said. “Wayfair, for people who’s got bricks and mortar and people who’s got investments, people who buy the ads from you guys —  to give people an advantage over our businesses here in the state, that’s one of those things that’s totally unfair — they don’t follow the same guidelines as those people here in the state.”

Parson said they need to at least start collecting the Wayfair taxes, even if they can’t agree on how to spend it. That way they can use it someday.

Party line on Medicaid

He also touched on Medicaid Expansion.

“I think it’s important to know what that really means with figures and facts,” Parson said. “Whether you are for it or against it. People need to understand what that system is.”

Missouri is number five in the United States on the percentage we pay into the Medicaid system — about 24 percent of the state’s budget goes into Medicaid, Parson said. “If you take the kids out of it, the Medicaid systems that is out there right now only goes to 133 percent of the poverty level. Currently in Missouri, we are at 300 percent for children. So it really has no effect on how many more kids go on there because we are already at 300 percent instead of 133 percent.”

Parson said everyone needs to know that while making their decision.

A reporter asked Parson why some politicians felt expanding Medicaid would save the state money and where his facts are to back up the statement that it will increase the budget.

“Years of experience,” Parson said. “I would challenge any of us in this room to name a program in the name of expansion that has shrunk in size or saved money? Every time a government program is created, it normally will always expand and cost money. The Medicaid Expansion system you are talking about, this year without any expansion, the cost to us was $200 million more in expansion without any additions to it.”

He said politicians have to look at the big picture — expand Medicaid to and get the federal government to help with the cost versus the long- term cost of the program. One in six Missourians are on the program, and to expand it would cost more, no matter what way they look at it. That’s one million people of six million in the state on the system.

“If you expand Medicaid, something has to shrink somewhere, because we are not talking about how we are going to pay for it, other than the estimated savings,” Parson said. “I don’t know if we have that right now.”

Missouri loves its gaming

Parson was asked about Missouri’s gaming machines.

“We have to address the gaming issue,” Parson said. “We have to figure out what is legal and what is not anymore. You’re gonna have to clean up the gray area.”

He was also asked about the sports betting in reference to the gaming issue.

“I think sports betting is a whole different issue, and there are different states that have done that,” Parson said. “I think those are two separate deals and I know that they are both ‘gaming’ per se. There is a lot of different moving parts to sports betting. I think there is going to be more of a discussion on it.”

An even Clean[er] Missouri?

Parson was questioned about Clean and Cleaner Missouri. Earlier in the day, Auditor Nicole Galloway said “if the voters were so smart when they elected you and those senators, she couldn’t understand why (the people) wouldn’t understand the provisions of what they were voting on in Clean Missouri.”

A reporter asked, “Why not do this — a redistricting cycle — and find out how it works? Before saying it’s horrible and it has to be changed?”

“No, I didn’t say it was horrible, that was you,” Parson corrected the reporter. “First of all I think going back to the ballot box to ask people, if you don’t think it’s what people wanted, what better way to make sure if they meant to do that. I am not sure what the argument is, but there has been lots of issues we have addressed in the past that we have made changes to them. There is a discussion on it and there’s different moving parts to that when you start talking about the legislative side to it, the donation reform to it — most people talked about that and understood that part of it. I don’t have a problem with the people going back and saying ‘hey, this is what we said you guys, so do it.’”

Parson said he thinks that what people want to know more than anything is campaign contributions. Who is supporting the candidate and how much they gave.

“I’ve supported that and I have never fell into the ‘dark money’ side of things,” Parson said. “Good or bad, people who support me know where the money comes from and who are writing the checks.”

Addressing violent crime

Parson was asked about where he stands on gun control.

“There was an article I think in the Post that said ‘Parson’s for gun control’ in the headlines, and that just stirred up a huge issue both ways,” Parson said. “But when I met with the mayors in Kansas City and St. Louis about gun control laws, I simply said, ‘ok, what are the things we feel we can do together that all of us can live with and what can we get through the legislative process?’”

Parson said he isn’t the type of guy that is going to find an issue that can’t be resolved.

“We talked about the victims, the witness side of it and the mental health side of it and what we are going to do with violent criminals,” he said. “Do you want to make other models of assault out there? The question becomes ‘are you trying to take away guns?’ Me and the mayors sat down on several different occasions to figure things out and I said ‘the vote would be in the legislature and at the end of the day, what you do on the guns is up to the legislative body.’”

Parson said a citizen can’t be from rural Missouri and act like violent crime only affects a specific number of people because it affects everyone no matter where they live.

‘Hesitant’ to make election changes

Parson was asked how he felt about State Secretary Jay Ashcroft bring up the idea of dropping the Presidential Preference Primary. He said he didn’t have an issue in that and thought it was expensive anyway.

Parson was asked: “What about small cities that don’t have to have elections right now if they have the same number of candidates as open seats? Are you worried about a decrease in people voting in general?”

“I am always supportive of local elections, I think that is the purest form of elections,” Parson said. “Most of the time people know who you are and who they are going to vote for, whereas at a higher level, people don’t know you. If you have a local election if no one has filed or run for the position, I am not sure what the point is in having an election if there is no one to elect.”

He said he would be hesitant to change the election process.

Game on for November?

Parson was asked about fellow gubernatorial candidate Galloway’s criticism of how his office handles Sunshine Law requests and what they have redacted.

“I would be much more comfortable with general council answering that question,” Parson said. “I think we have been pretty open from the beginning.”

He said they have never been to court about anything, including apps that Galloway has been caught with.

“That’s just the way it is going to be,” he said. “The reality of it is I feel like we are as open as we can possibly be. I think we are doing a pretty good job as far as the Sunshine Law.”

Parson was asked about former state attorney general Josh Hawley’s audit investigation by Galloway.

“I think you need to find out if that’s right,” Parson said. “Did those things happen? When you are accused of wrong-doing, you should have a right to defend yourself and have the facts of documentation. Sen. Hawley says he does, and if you have those documents on someone and then suddenly remove them in the name of transparency, that would be like my staff doing what I asked and (did) nothing wrong, and suddenly, I remove them from the position. I don’t see that happening in my position, I’m a pretty loyal guy. I think we have a right to know how that office was conducted.”

He said if a politician ever uses their elected position for political gain it creates distrust to Missourians, and he thinks finding out what those details are is imperative to anyone in the elected position.

“Individual rights should be at the forefront every day,” Parson said. “When you start manipulating the process for political gain, that is wrong, no matter who you are.”

Parson said he has not seen any paper evidence of the situation, they are still in the process of investigating.