Kicking Over the Applecarts

 

Sen. Bill Eigel at the Greene County GOP T.A.R.G.E.T. BBQ

By Gretchen Garrity

 The race for Missouri governor is already heating up. Since he announced his candidacy, state Sen. Bill Eigel has garnered a lot of media attention. Eigel is not afraid of controversy, or of attacks from either his own Republican party or the Democrats.

Last weekend, Sen. Eigel was in Springfield to attend the Greene County GOP’s T.A.R.G.E.T. BBQ. While local party rules prevented him from addressing the audience except to introduce himself, Eigel took time to meet with local supporters and citizens in a coffee meetup at an IHOP near the Ozark Empire Center Eplex beforehand.

Sen. Eigel’s platform is straightforward: Election reform through getting rid of machine counting and prohibiting out-of-state organizations from collecting voter data. According to his platform, “Missouri has its own authorities, from the Missouri Secretary of State to county election officials, to ensure election integrity. Missouri election transparency and integrity should be maintained within our borders and out of the hands of foreign special interests. Bill Eigel opposes Missouri’s membership or participation in any out-of-state organization and does not support the release of private voter data to any non-Missouri agency or authority.”

When asked about disenfranchised voters, Sen. Eigel replied, “Don’t let go.” He said, “God is in control. God has a plan.” He explained that one way to ensure election integrity in Missouri is by developing a local grant program to train hand counters. He also proposed a special fund to go to any county that has moved fully to paper ballots and hand counting.

Eigel has described his candidacy as “kicking over the applecarts” in Jefferson City, and he spares no one, including the current governor, Bill Parsons, whom the senator describes as a “center-left Democrat” on fiscal policy. Parsons has grown his budget more in the last seven years than any Democrat governor previously, the senator said. 

“All taxes in this state are too high,” Eigel said.

Acknowledging that even local budgets are growing too much, another plank in his platform is the repeal of the personal property tax. In a March interview, Sen. Eigel said the personal property tax hits working and middle-class taxpayers hardest. While SB8 is currently stalled, Eigel is determined to make headway with providing tax relief to citizens. His bill would phase out the personal property tax over several years, allowing for local entities to make adjustments.

 On a related note, listen to Sen. Eigel and Christian County Commissioner Brad Jackson talk taxes below:

Very heated discussion this morning with @BillEigel @Producer_Cass Bradley Jackson, and @chrisrussell_ #moleg @johncombest_com @missouriscout https://t.co/ArKGLG0BbO

— KWTO 93.3 FM - 560 AM - News - Analysis - Opinion (@933KWTO) September 22, 2023




When asked about the ever-expanding budgets and poor performance of local school districts, Sen. Eigel mentioned the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). He said DESE began as a very small department, with about six employees. It now has 2,000 employees and has become very powerful. Eigel wants to put parents in charge, and one way to do it is to rein in DESE’s funding.

Eigel is also opposed to the top-down imposition of CRT (Critical Race Theory) and DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion). His platform includes: “Eliminat[ing] Hate-Based Ideologies such as Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, and other “woke” programs in public schools…” He is equally opposed to biological males participating in female sports, and prohibiting gender-transitioning surgeries for minors.

Additionally, Sen. Eigel “supports legal requirements for school districts to maintain easy to understand and electronically searchable curricula and lesson plan records, available at all times on the homepage of the website hosted by the district.”

When asked about what can be done regarding obscene and pornographic books in public libraries, Sen. Eigel said the governor has the power to stop state funds from going to libraries.

GOP candidates and elected representatives in Springfield

 

Eigel intends on staying busy in the Missouri Senate in 2024, and has plans to continue pushing for a repeal of the personal property tax, and a rollback of the gas tax increase, as well as supporting SB98 (maintaining separate bathroom/shower facilities for males and females), and SB100 (the gold and silver bill). He is also vigorously opposing Red Flag laws, vaccine and mask mandates, and foreign ownership of Missouri land.

When asked how his military service prepared him for public service, Eigel related how his time in Turkmenistan--a country which at the time had transitioned from a Soviet republic to an independent nation under the authoritarian rule of a self-styled “Turkmenbashi"--showed him what government overreach can do to the citizenry.

Those in government had much. Those not in government had little. It solidified his conviction that less government means more for citizens.

Eigel said the heart and soul of his campaign is “Don’t be afraid."