Missouri State House candidate John Kiehne’s parents, grandparents and extended family have all benefited from and been involved in union activity in Missouri for many years. John supports Missouri workers’ right to collectively bargain for better wages and benefits as well as to ensure safe, just and equitable employment policies for the workplace. #SupportUnions

Missouri State Representative Dottie Bailey supports anti-worker policies like “Right to Work" and stated that she would fight for the people of House District 110 against “Union bosses (not the rank-and-file) [that] want to control Eureka, Pacific, and Wildwood in the Missouri House". Rep. Bailey has branded John to be a socialist and a communist sympathizer for supporting unions.

Missouri State House candidate John Kiehne believes that Missouri should accept Medicaid Expansion- which would provide Healthcare coverage through Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of uninsured Missouri residents while being 90% funded by Federal Funds. In 35 States + Washington D.C. Medicaid Expansion has been shown to be revenue-neutral for the States’ budget.

Missouri State Representative Dottie Bailey opposes accepting Medicaid Expansion in Missouri and states that we “can’t afford it" and that we would have to cut programs like Education Funding in order to pay for it. The facts and data available from 35 other States + Washington D.C. simply make Rep. Bailey’s assertion demonstrably false and ill-informed.

Missouri State House candidate John Kiehne believes that we must support and fully fund our public schools so that every student, regardless of zip code, wealth, race, ability and so forth, has access to a quality, free education. As a music instructor and the child of public school educators John believes that education is the foundation for success and prosperity in our modern world. John also opposes efforts to discriminate against students based on race, gender, sexual preference or sexual identity.

Missouri State Representative Dottie Bailey supports diverting public school funding to for-profit Charter Schools that lack the same academic expectations and oversight required by standard public schools. The majority of her campaign funding comes from uber-wealthy supporters of Charter Schools like the DeVos family, Rex Sinquefield and Reed Hastings. Rep. Bailey is currently Vice Chair for the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.

Missouri State House candidate John Kiehne has been a small businessman his entire adult life like 99.4% of the over 500,000 small businesses in Missouri- 80% of which are sole proprietorships and 97% of which have 20 employees or less. As a long-time small businessman John supports policies that make our State more business-friendly while also expecting businesses to operate with honesty and integrity. John believes in and supports policies that benefit business owners, workers and consumers simultaneously. In light of running a business during a global pandemic John believes that we must also support our small businesses by working to facilitate ways in which they can operate safely protecting workers and consumers while also being able to make their bottom line. Missouri businesses are dependent upon not only policy but the level of prosperity in their community or potential client base.

In order to navigate through and survive as businesses during the coronavirus crisis we must create a foundation for safe socialization by testing, tracking and isolating. These actions will help to identify those that are infected, isolate them in order to recover and prevent further infections and protect those that they might have come in contact with. This strategy in combination with safe business practices will allow for businesses to operate with the least likelihood of facilitating infection amongst employees and customers.

In addition we must maintain and repair our infrastructure by funding MODOT in order for our clients and customers to have access to our services and products. Stronger schools facilitate smarter and more skilled workers as well as providing a foundation for more business owners and entrepreneurs yet our public schools remain underfunded. Post-secondary education- which prepares students to work in professional fields- must become more affordable and accessible and we should also encourage young people to pursue careers in the trades, manufacturing, etc. where opportunity exists to earn a living wage and prosper.

Missouri State Representative Dottie Bailey claims to support small business yet apparently has no knowledge of or experience actually running a business. When Rep. Bailey had the opportunity to vote in support of emergency funding to support small businesses and family farmers in Missouri (which are also small businesses) while they have been suffering due to an unprecedented global health crisis she voted “no". While over 122,000 Americans (and nearly 1,000 Missouri residents) have lost their lives due to COVID-19 Rep. Bailey’s “solution" for small businesses has simply been to “open back up". She has opposed safety precautions recommended by healthcare professionals that have been imposed on businesses in order to keep people safe while allowing businesses to open in the midst of a continuing and worsening global pandemic. While in Session in 2020 Rep. Bailey refused to follow mask and distancing recommendations in her workplace that were implemented in order to protect herself, her family and her colleagues. Rep. Bailey also has a history of opposing collective bargaining- which allows employees to negotiate their wages and benefits and has even voted to lower workers’ wages. As a small business owner I pride myself on doing my best to pay my workers a competitive wage and therefore I’m able to hire better workers who are more dedicated to being reliable and do quality work.

Successful businesses are not run on simple sentiments and wishful thinking- small businesses in Missouri need leaders who can speak on issues with insight, understanding and clarity and Rep. Bailey fails to rise to that standard.

“Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home—but not for housing. They are strong for labor—but they are stronger for restricting labor’s rights. They favor minimum wage—the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all—but they won’t spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine—for people who can afford them … They think American standard of living is a fine thing—so long as it doesn’t spread to all the people. And they admire the Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it." — Harry S. Truman, October 13, 1948, St. Paul, Minnesota, Radio Broadcast