February 3, 2017

By Libby Stanford

The League of Women Voters held its biggest town hall in recent history on Thursday evening to discuss legislative priorities and ask questions to Missouri state legislators. Legislators in attendance included Reps. Cheri Reisch, R-Hallsville; Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia; Martha Stevens, D-Columbia; Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport; and state Sen. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia.

According to Lauren Williams, the adult and community services manager of Daniel Boone Regional Library, around 260 people attended the event, so some people had to stand in the halls outside of the room. Topics covered ranged from gun rights to the budget proposed by Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens on Thursday.

“We had a very big turn out, far bigger than we’ve ever had,” LWV Voter Service Chair Carol Schreiber said. “As far as the issues, we want that to be the public. I thought that the fact that some of the Republicans and Democrats were on the same page for some of the issues was good. We don’t hear that much.”

Education funding was one of the major issues spoken about at the town hall. Greitens had suggested cutting more than $159 million in higher education funding in his budget proposal Thursday, which caused concern for many higher education supporters.

“It hits Boone County and Columbia very hard; any time there [are] these major cuts to education and higher education, it hits our economy,” Kendrick said. “Also it hits the students very hard as well. This is going to be increased cost in tuition, not just here at the University of Missouri but all around the state. We’re seeing massive student loan debt for an entire generation.”

Both Republican and Democratic legislators seemed to agree that the budget cuts are a problem. However, they had different outlooks on the future of higher education.

“We’ve got to continue to shout and yell and scream as loud as possible about the value and the importance of higher education,” Rowden said. “Continuing to tell the story statewide in the rural communities, from north Missouri to southwest Missouri, about what specifically the University of Missouri does for our state and the things that are important and the things that move us forward. We’re going to do everything in our power over the next few months to make sure that we do whatever we can to bring some of those dollars home.”

Another issue that raised concern was concealed carry gun laws, specifically on campus and in private businesses.

“I would support a business owner’s right to not allow that in their establishment,” Basye said. “I am a huge second amendment supporter. Talk about higher education and carry on campus, I know that is not a popular subject by a lot of people, but I know some professors that feel exactly the opposite. They feel they should be able to protect themselves.”

Other topics discussed included racial bias among law enforcement, LGBTQ rights, union rights and photo identification laws.

“I came today because I really want to see our representatives listen to us, and these are one of the few chances we [have],” CoMo for Progress organizer Kate Canterbury said. “That’s why I love town halls and I really admire all the people coming today, because some of our representatives are too afraid to face the people that voted for them.”

_Edited by Madi McVan | mmcvan@themaneater.com_