Politically Speaking

State Rep. Joe Adams returns to Politically Speaking to talk to St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Sarah Kellogg about the now completed 2022 Missouri General Assembly session. The University City Democrat represents a portion of St. Louis County in the Missouri House. After redistricting, his district will consist of University City and portions of Clayton.

With the 2022 Missouri Legislative Session finished, St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum and Sarah Kellogg spend this episode of Politically Speaking answering your questions about the legislature. What does the redistricting process look like now that the legislature has passed a map? How will the contentiousness that happened this year impact future sessions? What song best describes this session? Those questions and more answered in this mailbag episode.

House Minority Floor Leader Crystal Quade joins St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg and Jason Rosenbaum to talk about the last week of the 2022 Missouri Legislative Session. In addition to reflecting on this year's session, Quade spoke on the recently passed $49 billion state budget, the possibility of the legislature passing a congressional redistricting map and more.

The 17th Ward Alderwoman joined Politically Speaking to talk about equitable development, efforts to reduce opioid overdoses, and a varied athletic and professional career.

Zora Mulligan, Commissioner of Higher Education for the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development joins St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg, Jason Rosenbaum and Kate Grumke to talk about the state of higher education in Missouri. Mulligan spoke on current challenges the state is facing in regards to higher education, how the COVID-19 pandemic left its mark, as well as how the state plans to spend some of its funding from the American Rescue Plan Act on capital improvement projects for colleges across Missouri.

After a nearly eight year hiatus, former Missouri state Sen. John Lamping returns to Politically Speaking to discuss this year’s unpredictable U.S. Senate primary. Lamping represented the 24th Senate district from 2011 to 2015. Since then, he’s moved to St. Charles County but knows many of the contenders to succeed U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt well. He noted that he hasn’t endorsed any of the candidates and doesn’t plan to at this point.

Democratic Rep. Sarah Unsicker, whose district includes both St. Louis City and St. Louis County is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. Unsicker joins both St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg and Jason Rosenbaum to discuss not only the 2022 Missouri Legislative Session, but also the state budget. Unsicker serves on the House Budget Committee and believes the budget that House members passed a few weeks ago underutilizes the surplus Missouri has in its treasury. Unsicker also spoke on her efforts to raise awareness of sex trafficking in the state.

St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum talks with General Services Administration Administrator Robin Carnahan about her first few months on the job — and how her agency will help execute the federal infrastructure bill.

Missouri Senator and member of the Conservative Caucus Bill Eigel is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. Eigel joins St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg and Jason Rosenbaum to talk about his thoughts on how Missouri should draw its congressional redistricting map. Eigel has been a proponent of a 7-1 majority Republican map, though he ultimately did vote on a map that would likely send six Republicans and two Democrats to Washington. Eigel also spoke on the state of the Senate as well as what he hopes to accomplish this session.

Republican Rep. Bill Hardwick is the latest guest on Politically Speaking. He joins St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg to talk about how he feels the 2022 legislative session has gone so far. Unlike some of his colleagues in the House, Hardwick is less concerned about the pace of the Missouri Senate, saying its doing its job of being more deliberative. Hardwick also spoke on congressional redistricting as well as his bill that bans public entities from issuing COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

The 13th Ward Alderwoman joined Politically Speaking to talk “Zooming while driving,” spending the Rams settlement dollars, and running for re-election.

On this episode of Politically Speaking, Rep. Ron Hicks joins St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg to talk about his bill that would legalize recreational marijuana use in the state. Hicks, a St. Charles Republican, is serving his last year in the House. He also spoke on how he feels the 2022 legislative session is going, including the lack of action on the congressional redistricting map that the House passed in January.

On this episode of Politically Speaking, Rep. Peter Merideth joins St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg to talk about the current session, including the Missouri budget. The legislature has more to do this year money-wise, including passing an extra supplemental budget bill and allocating billions in federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act. Merideth also talked about the series of proposed constitutional amendments that have either passed the House or received first round approval.

Democratic Sen. Brian Williams joins St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg to talk about the Missouri Senate, which spent almost all of last week talking about redistricting without reaching a conclusion. Despite the delays and continued tensions, Williams is still optimistic about the 2022 Legislative Session. Williams also spoke on recent House activity, including the passage of a supplemental bill and a proposed constitutional amendment regarding the initiative petition process.

Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden joins St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg to talk about how the 2022 Legislative Session has progressed one month in. Rowden also spoke on the redistricting process and also about the Senate's decision to essentially kill the appointment of Don Kauerauf to serve as Missouri's health director on a permanent basis.

The 12th Ward alderman joins Politically Speaking to discuss Zoom board meetings, why he wants to focus on river issues, and what it means to be a gay atheist representing a portion of south St. Louis.

Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins joins St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum, Jonathan Ahl and Sarah Kellogg to talk about the agriculture agency's 2022 agenda.

The St. Louis Democratic senators joins St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum and Sarah Kellogg to talk about the 2022 session — as well as what she would like to see in terms of redistricting for the 1st Congressional District. This episode also features an announcement at the end from Rosenbaum.

In the first episode of the new year, Republican Rep. Dirk Deaton joins St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg and Jason Rosenbaum on Politically Speaking. Deaton talked about the legislative session, redistricting and the billions Missouri must eventually allocate in federal coronavirus aid. Deaton serves as the vice-chair of the House Budget Committee.

Can you feel it the end of 2021 coming ever so close? If you're listening to this episode, there are only a few hours left in a year that served a transition period for Missouri and St. Louis politics. Join STLPR's Jason Rosenbaum, Sarah Kellogg, Jonathan Ahl, Rachel Lippmann and Eric Schmid in discussing the top political stories of 2021.