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Eastern Jackson County, MO —
The two candidates for the Missouri House of Representative seat in the 30th District both stress the economy and jobs, but in different ways.
Mike Cierpiot, a one-term incumbent from Lee’s Summit, says he hears one common theme from people as he campaigns for himself and on behalf of fellow Republicans.
“The economy ... people are just fit to be tied because it’s really tough right now,” Cierpiot said.
His challenger, Democrat Shere Alam of south Kansas City, wants a sharper focus on education and on small businesses.
“And by empowering small businesses, we can create jobs,” he said.
Cierpiot and Alam face off on Tuesday in a district that stretches from southeastern Independence to Lee’s Summit and Unity Village, with Interstate 470 running roughly down the middle. The winner is elected to a two-year term.
Cierpiot, a committee chair in the House, is willing to give that up to run for assistant floor leader if he wins Tuesday. Republicans will caucus and elect their leaders immediately after the election.
When legislators gather in January, Cierpiot said, they’ll have several pressing issues to take up, including expanded incentives adopted by the state of Kansas to lure away more businesses from Missouri.
“Five years from now, Kansas is going to go bankrupt, but in the meantime they’re going to kill us,” he said.
Many lawmakers have aired concerns about Missouri’s dozens of tax credits for issues such as historic preservation and low-income housing, credits that run to hundreds of millions of dollars while legislators struggle to balance the state budget every year. Cierpiot said he thinks that can be addressed in 2013.
He also said the state’s bankrupt second-injury fund – a type of workers comp – still needs attention, as does the overall issue of creating jobs.
Alam said that with large companies shipping jobs overseas, leaders should focus on small companies and on breakthroughs such a biofuels and solar energy. He added that Internet access and affordabilty are important as well.
Alam, who has taken the year off from teaching math at Universal Academy in Grandview so he can focus on his campaign and other party efforts, has a background in agricultural economics and in politics in his native Bangledesh. He has lived in the Kansas City area since 2004, and this is his first run for office in the United States, though he did work for the Obama campaign in 2008. (He does not live in the district, but the state’s delay in adopting new districts following the 2010 census means any candidate can run in any district statewide.)
The two candidates for the Missouri House of Representative seat in the 30th District both stress the economy and jobs, but in different ways.
Mike Cierpiot, a one-term incumbent from Lee’s Summit, says he hears one common theme from people as he campaigns for himself and on behalf of fellow Republicans.
“The economy ... people are just fit to be tied because it’s really tough right now,” Cierpiot said.
His challenger, Democrat Shere Alam of south Kansas City, wants a sharper focus on education and on small businesses.
“And by empowering small businesses, we can create jobs,” he said.
Cierpiot and Alam face off on Tuesday in a district that stretches from southeastern Independence to Lee’s Summit and Unity Village, with Interstate 470 running roughly down the middle. The winner is elected to a two-year term.
Cierpiot, a committee chair in the House, is willing to give that up to run for assistant floor leader if he wins Tuesday. Republicans will caucus and elect their leaders immediately after the election.
When legislators gather in January, Cierpiot said, they’ll have several pressing issues to take up, including expanded incentives adopted by the state of Kansas to lure away more businesses from Missouri.
“Five years from now, Kansas is going to go bankrupt, but in the meantime they’re going to kill us,” he said.
Many lawmakers have aired concerns about Missouri’s dozens of tax credits for issues such as historic preservation and low-income housing, credits that run to hundreds of millions of dollars while legislators struggle to balance the state budget every year. Cierpiot said he thinks that can be addressed in 2013.
He also said the state’s bankrupt second-injury fund – a type of workers comp – still needs attention, as does the overall issue of creating jobs.
Alam said that with large companies shipping jobs overseas, leaders should focus on small companies and on breakthroughs such a biofuels and solar energy. He added that Internet access and affordabilty are important as well.
Alam, who has taken the year off from teaching math at Universal Academy in Grandview so he can focus on his campaign and other party efforts, has a background in agricultural economics and in politics in his native Bangledesh. He has lived in the Kansas City area since 2004, and this is his first run for office in the United States, though he did work for the Obama campaign in 2008. (He does not live in the district, but the state’s delay in adopting new districts following the 2010 census means any candidate can run in any district statewide.)
“I’m going to be working on both sides of the aisle to come up with the idea that is benefitting our area,” Alam said.
He stressed the importance of education and in particular that American students need to do better in math and science.
“That is one of the biggest challenges,” he said.
Cierpiot, chair of the House Committee on Transportation Funding and Public Institutions, said he sees little action in 2013 on secure, long-term funding for the state’s road and bridges, although there’s a problem because people are driving a little less and getting better gas mileage – meaning less in gas taxes. Also, alternatively powered vehicles are showing up. The state has finished a one-time push to upgrade major roadways, so at the moment, he said, the roads look pretty good, even though a problem is looming.
“I think most of us realize we’ve got to do something. ... I’m not sure our constituents perceive that yet,” he said.
