Elect Samantha Deaton

Every Missouri child should have access to free, quality public education regardless of their zip code. The burden of paying for children's education must be split between the federal, state, and local government. For decades the state government has been contributing less than their fair share, leaving local governments to increase property taxes to foot the bill. This is unfair to homeowners. It perpetuates generational inequality. It's time to for the state to step up and make sure kids growing up in rural, urban, and suburban areas of Missouri are taken care of and prepared for the future. As your representative, I will work to strengthen our public schools and fully fund our commitment to our kids.

I will support universal early childhood education, because investing in our kids from an early age is the best way for us to invest in our future. Investing in early childhood education and childcare also positively impacts the economy and workforce by multiplying worker availability. I will also support investment in higher education and workforce training, to ensure all Missourians have the opportunity to gain the skills to compete in our economy.

Quality, accessible, and affordable healthcare is every Missourian’s right. But every year Missouri families must make increasingly difficult decisions for how they prioritize spending on prescription drugs and medical bills over the basic costs of living. I know firsthand how families can be set back over unexpected medical bills and it's time for the state to begin providing the safety net that Missourians have shown overwhelming support for.

As your state representative, I’ll support common sense measures like fully funding Medicaid, so no Missourian is forced to choose between a decent job and keeping their healthcare.

Missouri is a beautiful state and we should preserve that. From the Mississippi River to the rolling Ozark mountains, Missourians now and of future generations deserve clean water, fresh air, and preserved wildlife spaces.

Government officials are currently being bought and sold by private interests who aim to pillage and exploit the natural resources of our state and many others. I can tell you now and for the rest of my career; my campaign is not for sale and the preservation of the environment has no price tag in my eyes.

Beyond the value of the natural beauty of our state, climate change is causing an unprecedented rise in catastrophic natural disasters. As your representative, I will vote and work however I can to mitigate our risk and expand local access to emergency services in the event of disaster. I also believe in local disaster management and in giving counties and municipalities the resources to handle disasters on their own and with citizen-involved crisis management teams.

Government works best when it is closer to the people it serves. I respect the fabric of our local communities and trust them to know best when it comes to overcoming the challenges they face. I'm honored to serve in my current city council position and I so appreciate the folks who keep the city of Battlefield going.

The state government manipulates local control through legislation all the time but they also put enormous pressure on local communities and their governments through inaction. When they refuse to fund important programs that benefit all communities, those communities are left to foot the bill on their own. This creates and contributes to the huge disparity in resources between cities and rural areas in our state.

In Missouri, we have seen many decisions influenced by special interests, circumventing the will of local communities on local issues by preempting local ordinances with state law or by diluting local opposition to matters by including state-wide votes. As a representative, I will hold on to the values and lessons I've learned to value in my time as an alderwoman.

Agriculture is the backbone of Missouri, and at the heart of it are our family farms—where many of us call home and why generations before us settled here. But passing down our way of life to future generations is becoming increasingly challenging.

Our local communities used to have a say in how farming was done in our backyards, but the Republican-led state legislature has passed bills favoring large corporate farms and pushing out family farms.

Last year, state Republicans passed a bill taking control from local communities to regulate certain large feeding operations known as CAFOs. This allows large scale operations to buy up local farms, push the production limits of the land, and pollute our communities’ treasured landscape without local oversight.

As your state rep, I’ll advocate for the state of Missouri to protect local control, giving ordinary citizens easier access to have their say on how farming operates in their community.

Central to the role of government is to fairly enforce the law, and to provide protection for its people. I will support our law enforcement officers in their difficult jobs, while also demanding accountability when they overreach.

I will support tough sentences for violent criminals, while also seeking ways to reduce our prison population and reintegrate non-violent folks into society. I’ll also support drug treatment courts and diversion programs that find alternative ways to punish and rehabilitate non-violent criminals without simply throwing them in prison.

No matter where you live in Missouri, the root causes of crime are the same: a lack of educational and work opportunities, along with drug addiction and poverty. Addressing these basic issues must always be central in any conversation about crime.

A strong economy is one that works for everyone. As your state rep, I’ll fight for those who truly build up our economy—our workers—for the wages, benefits, and protections they deserve. I’ll support investments in educational opportunities to support a 21st century workforce. I'll support labor unions in their effort to utilize their collective bargaining power.

I’ll work for policies that support local businesses who provide good jobs in our state and keep our economy growing. And I’ll work to bring new businesses here that want to capitalize on our skilled Missouri workforce and quality of life. But I’ll always put workers’ interests before the special interests of large corporations.

Our prescription drug epidemic tragically touches too many families in every community across Missouri. Tracking the frequency of prescriptions filled for these addictive drugs would allow for a chance to intervene with high risk users and save lives.

One critical tool our state can deploy to combat the misuse of opioids is the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). Missouri remains the only state in the entire country without a statewide PDMP, and I will support efforts to finally pass this legislation for our citizens.