Missouri House, District 28: Three-term representive for Raytown area faces a challenger

The Democratic primary for state representative in the Raytown area pits three-term incumbent Tom McDonald against Ryan Meyer, a Kansas City resident.

McDonald was first elected in 2008 and said he wants to return to the statehouse to help Missouri’s economy.

Despite repeated attempts, The Star could not reach Meyer for this story, but his website outlines some of his legislative priorities. His positions below are all quoted from the site.

No Republican has filed for the seat.

The candidates appear to agree on some of the broader points ahead for the Missouri legislature.

McDonald said he is optimistic about being able to work on economic issues with what he considers a more pragmatic House leadership in the coming term. However, he does not agree with the idea of cutting the state sales tax that was put forward by Republicans last term. Income tax cuts probably would be made up for by increases in the sales tax, which would be harder on the lower-income residents, he said.

“All their screaming and yelling about no tax increases, no tax increases. How long can you go on living in denial?” he said of the income tax cut proponents.

Meyer also dislikes the income tax proposal, for similar reasons, saying he would work to make the tax burden fairer to working families. He also described himself as “an avid and die-hard supporter of labor.”

Both candidates also support the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Meyer said the issue affects senior citizens as much as it does the urban poor because he said, more than two-thirds of all Medicaid spending is on people who already receive Medicare.

“The truth is, this is a series of changes that were originally proposed by Republicans. They do not solve every problem, but they are certainly a start,” Meyer said.

McDonald said accepting the expansion makes sense from both a humanitarian and economic perspective because of the jobs it would have created.

“It’s really criminal to let the people of Missouri suffer” without adequate health care coverage, McDonald said.

On other issues, McDonald said he disagrees with open transferring of students who want to leave unaccredited school districts, calling it an attack on public education.

Meyer did not address transfers on his website. He did say he’s against changes that would restrict voting. Meyer said he would support increased access to the vote with more polling places, early voting and “no excuse” absentee voting.

This story was originally published July 26, 2014 at 1:27 PM with the headline "Missouri House, District 28: Three-term representive for Raytown area faces a challenger."