What’s Going On in Missouri? Well, to find out we talk to Sarah Schlemeier Henke.

[00:00:12] Welcome back to another episode of Political Life. Today, Maggie and I come to you from the great state of Missouri. And as usual, we are not there, but our guest is Sarah Henke. And Sarah is a, Sarah works at the largest lobbying firm in Missouri. They have probably over, what's there, 100 clients?

[00:00:35] Yep, just over.

[00:00:37] 11 lobbyists. Sarah's been there maybe, what, five years? I'm sorry, is that right?

[00:00:44] A little more than that, just in the eight year anniversary.

[00:00:47] Yep, they do lobbying, grassroots, they kind of do it all. Maggie was nice enough to invite Sarah on the show. And Sarah, we're so glad to have you here.

[00:01:01] Yeah, thank you guys for having me. I'm excited to talk about Missouri. I usually get to talk about Missouri within my own little bubble. So it's a, it is an interesting state. I think that's a fair way to put it.

[00:01:14] Well, since we just finished the election, what, how are things in Missouri right now, post-election?

[00:01:22] Yeah, so Missouri's November election didn't yield a lot of surprises. We are a pretty deep red state. So most of the competition and kind of the back and forth real battleground election happened back in August when we had our primary.

[00:01:38] We, especially the last several cycles have traditionally elected Republicans as our statewide candidates. So one of the biggest things was our governor was not running for reelection. He actually was eligible to run for reelection because he was appointed during a previous administration that had stepped down, but he decided to, that he was done and left that vacant.

[00:02:06] And so we had, you know, there's a lot of candidates on the ballot, but really a three-way primary that was extremely interesting to watch and a little scary to watch as well. You had all of the components of the Republican Party, right?

[00:02:22] You had Jay Ashcroft, who is the big name recognition in the state. His father was the governor. And so, and he's our current secretary, or he was the current secretary of state.

[00:02:32] And then you had Mike Kehoe, who was your businessman, has established himself in Missouri through working hard, not college educated, but a business owner, moved his way up, knows the working class, and understands what the Missouri economy needs.

[00:02:53] So kind of that traditional Republican role you see. And then you had Bill Igle, who was a state senator, who really grabbed onto some of the further right rhetoric and was seeing how that message was going to pan out in a gubernatorial campaign.

[00:03:09] Ultimately, Mike Kehoe came out as the victor there and then was able to easily carry that in the general election.

[00:03:18] And so another part of the general election, the part that was interesting, were a couple of Senate races because Missouri was redistricted in 2020.

[00:03:28] So this was the first time that several of those Senate seats were open.

[00:03:32] So we didn't know, was there going to be a big blue wave? Was Missouri going to stay really red?

[00:03:36] What ultimately happened was no real surprises.

[00:03:40] We had two Senate districts flip on either side, and those were kind of by design.

[00:03:47] And then we had two House districts flip on either side.

[00:03:51] So it was a net neutral all around. And then the Republicans swept the statewide races as expected.

[00:03:58] And what's the makeup of the Senate?

[00:04:00] So the Senate, you have 34 senators, 10 of them are Democrats, and 24 of them are Republicans.

[00:04:08] And then similarly, in the House, you do have that super majority.

[00:04:12] You have a total of 163 seats, 111 are Republicans, and then you have 52 Democrats.

[00:04:19] And so we are we are very, very red.

[00:04:23] But in terms of the Senate makeup.

[00:04:26] You've got the Republicans, but you've also got Freedom Caucus.

[00:04:30] And I think what happened this past session in Missouri, and we're starting to see it in other Republican controlled states,

[00:04:37] is that you've got a little bit of a of a two party inside one party dynamic.

[00:04:42] Can you share a little bit about, you know, that caucus?

[00:04:45] And did that caucus retain or grow its seats?

[00:04:49] And do you think that next session you're going to see similar dynamics that we saw last session?

[00:04:54] Yeah, so I think a lot of states, once you see a party become large enough, they start dividing within themselves.

[00:05:02] And I think, you know, Missouri used to be a blue state.

[00:05:04] I think you saw that in the late 90s with the Democrats as well.

[00:05:07] And then this whole flip happened.

[00:05:09] Republicans took over and then they've just kind of grown their party numbers since then.

[00:05:13] And in Missouri, the Senate in particular is a great place to give power to the little guys,

[00:05:21] because we are one of the chambers, one of the few chambers in the nation that really respects the filibuster.

[00:05:27] And it's a very rare occurrence for what they call at the federal level, the nuclear option,

[00:05:35] which we call the previous question for that procedure to be carried out on the floor.

[00:05:41] So it, while the filibuster is wonderful because it makes the Missouri Senate the more deliberative body,

[00:05:50] and it makes it a place where policy needs to slow down and really be vetted.

[00:05:55] It also, what we've seen is the filibuster has gotten flipped upside down on its head

[00:06:00] and used to really leverage leadership to bring up priorities of a few instead of the whole.

[00:06:07] And so the Freedom Caucus decided that, which Bill Igle, who was a gubernatorial candidate,

[00:06:13] he was the ringleader of the Freedom Caucus.

[00:06:16] The Freedom Caucus decided that here is our agenda.

[00:06:19] And until that agenda is done, nobody else is getting anything done.

[00:06:23] That message has really taken hold the last three years.

[00:06:26] The last two years, we have seen repeated years of record low bill passage in Missouri.

[00:06:32] I think 43 bills passed last year.

[00:06:36] And keep in mind, about 20 of those bills are appropriations bills that decide our state budget,

[00:06:42] and those by constitution have to pass.

[00:06:45] So it's been a really difficult last couple of years if you're wanting to pass any legislation,

[00:06:54] whether that's technical fixes from legislation that's passed in the past,

[00:07:00] or just really great new innovative ideas.

[00:07:03] They have been held up and leveraged by the Freedom Caucus.

[00:07:07] But one interesting thing on the Freedom Caucus is,

[00:07:11] what a lot of people didn't see is the needle moving that would play out during the Senate.

[00:07:17] And it was extremely frustrating.

[00:07:20] A, you know, Senate leadership would say, look, okay, we're going to bring up a policy.

[00:07:24] We're going to discuss it.

[00:07:26] It is something that Republicans are largely interested in.

[00:07:28] So let's do it.

[00:07:30] Then all of a sudden, the Freedom Caucus is like, whoa, we actually pass our legislation.

[00:07:34] We can't play this in the election that, you know,

[00:07:37] these traditional rhinos are not getting things passed.

[00:07:40] So the needle would magically move a little bit.

[00:07:43] So we saw that the filibuster was really taken advantage of in that way,

[00:07:50] really led to a very not productive session.

[00:07:54] However, looking forward, I do believe that there is hope for the Senate.

[00:08:00] I do think that the new leader of the Freedom Caucus, who has been elected,

[00:08:06] Senator Nick Schroer from St. Charles, he, we have met with him over and over.

[00:08:11] He has wonderful policy ideas.

[00:08:14] He does have, he is a traditional, very conservative Republican,

[00:08:18] but he does believe in the legislative process.

[00:08:22] He believes that there needs to be negotiation.

[00:08:25] He does believe that there are times where the Freedom Caucus needs to push

[00:08:30] and needs to get what they want, but that's what every caucus thinks.

[00:08:33] And so that's kind of the beauty of our governing system is that you can do that.

[00:08:37] You just shouldn't take advantage of it.

[00:08:39] And so hopefully we see more working together, more great policy being pushed forward,

[00:08:47] and less just, you know, placating in the political games.

[00:08:51] And just there's not going to be in the back of the mind of everyone that it's an election year,

[00:08:56] which typically makes tensions a little higher.

[00:09:00] How many members in the Freedom Caucus?

[00:09:03] Let's see.

[00:09:04] There are some, I can't say for sure, because there are some who we are anticipating may join the Freedom Caucus,

[00:09:12] but they have not pledged yet either way.

[00:09:14] So I think strong numbers you have about four or five who have come out and said,

[00:09:22] I am in the Freedom Caucus.

[00:09:24] And then you have another two to three who are kind of, you know, one foot in each camp,

[00:09:29] which sometimes that's a bad thing, but sometimes that's a great thing,

[00:09:32] because those are those bridges of communication that you can have between the Freedom Caucus,

[00:09:37] the traditional Republicans, and then the Democrats as well.

[00:09:40] So last week, when the U.S. Attorney General candidate, Matt Gaetz, exited,

[00:09:49] another Missouri name resurfaced.

[00:09:53] Your Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, how did that kind of name come to be on the shortlist for AG?

[00:10:00] I know that General Bondi eventually was nominated in short order,

[00:10:05] but it's been fun to see General Bailey's name circulating among the Trump considerations.

[00:10:13] Just anything into his bio or how he has made a relationship with the president to be?

[00:10:20] Yeah.

[00:10:20] So I think the incoming administration has really strong ties to Missouri.

[00:10:24] And I think Andrew Bailey has carried the water for a lot of the further right ideals as he's moved into the attorney general position.

[00:10:36] That's what he was just elected for the first time.

[00:10:39] He was appointed by Governor Parson.

[00:10:42] He came as he was the general counsel of Governor Parson's administration

[00:10:47] and then was appointed once Eric Schmidt won the Senate seat in Missouri and moved on.

[00:10:52] And so I think Andrew Bailey has strategically placed himself

[00:10:57] and used his tenure in the AG's office to catch the attention of the Trump administration.

[00:11:03] And I think you also saw a very interesting dynamic in our AG primary

[00:11:09] because we had Will Scharf, who has now become part of the Trump cabinet.

[00:11:15] He ran against Andrew Bailey.

[00:11:18] Will Scharf was part of the previous governor's administration whenever Eric Greitens resigned

[00:11:24] and then joined Trump's legal team in defense against some of the charges that he has received

[00:11:32] in his interim between his presidential terms.

[00:11:34] So it was a I think there was a lot of work in that Republican primary that each candidate really sought out the Trump endorsement,

[00:11:45] really worked with Trump to try to garner the support of his base.

[00:11:51] And so I think that's probably why some of that name was being tossed around in D.C.

[00:11:56] quite a bit from what we heard back home.

[00:11:58] And a lot of people in D.C. were like, it had to be Andrew Bailey because one,

[00:12:01] we had never heard his name before now and now we're hearing it everywhere.

[00:12:04] So coming from the administration that appointed his lieutenant governor, the AG,

[00:12:13] basically everyone except for the secretary of state, he appointed more by double the statewide than any governor had before.

[00:12:27] So if Andrew Bailey were to go to D.C., we would see that process happening all over again.

[00:12:32] It could be a senator. There could be a special election that could mess up the Senate leadership dynamic.

[00:12:37] We had no idea. So we are OK with the stability in Missouri right now.

[00:12:46] So in terms of legislative priorities coming from the new speaker and the new Senate president,

[00:12:52] pro tem, is it majority leader or pro tem?

[00:12:55] I'm blanking right.

[00:12:56] You have the pro tem in the Senate who sets the agenda and then you have majority floor leaders in each chamber.

[00:13:05] And then the speaker sets the agenda in the House.

[00:13:08] Perfect. And in terms of your legislative preview, what do you think will be driven by the new leaders of both chambers?

[00:13:17] So I think a big thing is going to be returning to normal a little bit.

[00:13:23] I think there are several pieces of policy that have been vetted thoroughly and over and over again the last three years

[00:13:33] that have made it to the finish line right before the Senate has, quote unquote, shut down or adjourned early or whatever terminology you want to call it.

[00:13:41] I think there are some pieces of legislation that are great for the state, that have been vetted, that have no controversial issues in them.

[00:13:51] And I think they both want to function very well and they want to get this moving as a machine like it was before and great substantive debate on the floor.

[00:14:02] No more name calling, just bringing everyone together.

[00:14:05] And it's really hopeful and encouraging because we have seen we have already heard of leadership from both chambers meeting with one another,

[00:14:15] discussing kind of getting on the same page of, you know, what the cadence is going to be this year.

[00:14:22] What are our priorities? I think you'll see a lot of things popping up with education reform.

[00:14:27] I think that's going to be a big one.

[00:14:28] I think some health care issues you're going to see that I think there probably is going to be an attempt to put some more guidelines around the passage of Amendment 3 in Missouri,

[00:14:44] which was securing the right to abortion up to fetal viability.

[00:14:47] So I think adjusting the definition of what is the viability?

[00:14:52] What does viability mean? What does that mean for providers?

[00:14:55] And so I think, you know, with a Republican majority legislature, that is not not a pro choice legislature.

[00:15:04] I think you're going to see a lot of legislation introduced about that substantive discussion about that and what what the ballot measure means versus what statute can kind of chime in on.

[00:15:14] And then otherwise, I think you'll probably see some tort reform come out of the legislature,

[00:15:20] some things that have been scrubbed the last couple of years and they're ready for a big floor debate, which typically is.

[00:15:27] That's when you'll see the back to normal filibuster from the Democrats and the Democrats working with the Republicans on what the tort reform final package looks like.

[00:15:37] So kind of your traditional just red meat Republican issues.

[00:15:44] Sarah, when you say education reform, are you thinking of something specifically?

[00:15:50] I would say school choice is always going to be up there.

[00:15:55] Charter school expansion is always going to be up there.

[00:15:58] Right now we have charter schools in St. Louis City, in Kansas City and then in Boone County,

[00:16:05] which is where the previous president, Pro Tem, was representing.

[00:16:10] And in the big education bill that they did pass this last year, he included charter school expansion in his his own county that he was representing.

[00:16:20] And so I believe that will be up for discussion.

[00:16:23] I think school choice is something that a lot of Republicans believe in in Missouri.

[00:16:30] Interesting.

[00:16:32] So less Missouri, more Sarah.

[00:16:36] What Jim did not say when he introduced you was your maiden name, which is part of your firm's name.

[00:16:43] So when we have folks on have folks on the podcast that have grown up in.

[00:16:50] A political life, it's hard to probably pinpoint where you first entered the scene.

[00:16:56] But, you know, what was it like growing up in in your family?

[00:17:00] And and, you know, what what made you decide to to become an advocate and a lobbyist as well?

[00:17:07] Yeah. So my maiden name, Schleymeyer, is obviously part of the firm's name.

[00:17:13] And so my father is one of the partners of the firm.

[00:17:16] And I think he and I both tried to keep me out of business for the longest time, especially whenever he was growing up in politics.

[00:17:26] It wasn't necessarily the most friendly place for women, if I'm being completely honest.

[00:17:30] And so he didn't that was just never a career that really had crossed my mind.

[00:17:36] I was telling Jim before this, you know, my heart was set on going out and changing the world through the nonprofit industry.

[00:17:43] And so whenever I graduated college, I wasn't sure if I was going to do, you know, more public health focused.

[00:17:50] My my degree was in health sciences and then service learning, service learning meant that I did several international service trips, volunteers, things of that sort.

[00:17:59] And I focused on public health then.

[00:18:01] So I sought out grant funded positions and nonprofits because I didn't exactly know what I wanted to do.

[00:18:09] The good thing about a grant funding position is that it ends.

[00:18:12] And so you move on to the next thing.

[00:18:13] You don't have to feel like you're committing to a career.

[00:18:15] So I focused on several health related nonprofit positions that were in St. Louis, Missouri.

[00:18:24] Once those started to sunset, I was hired on another grant funded position that was full time and actually was run through a lobbying firm in Jefferson City.

[00:18:33] It was for the Missouri Association of Rural Health Clinics.

[00:18:36] And my job was to really strengthen their membership, teach them how to talk about the woes that they're seeing in their clinic and how that relates to legislation, how that relates to policy, what needs to change, what's kind of at that state level, what's at the national level and getting their members engaged.

[00:18:55] Even though it's a tough job, it takes, you know, all of the practitioners in a rural health care setting.

[00:19:02] It takes all of their energy just to provide health care in that kind of setting.

[00:19:06] But asking them to just go a little step further and talk about their issues.

[00:19:10] And so I remember going to Jeff City, listening to them talk about their issues to their legislators, telling the legislators how they take such great care of their constituents.

[00:19:19] And then I started to see, OK, there's another way to go out and change the world, if you will.

[00:19:23] And so I really dug into policy.

[00:19:27] I really started to enjoy that.

[00:19:29] That grant funded position was sunsetting as well.

[00:19:33] And I had a job offer with that with that firm.

[00:19:37] I was going to stay there.

[00:19:38] And I think that's the point where and I started to get a couple of clients doing this grassroots development outside of the rural health clinics.

[00:19:47] And I think that's when Gamble and Schlemeyer said, how about you come over here?

[00:19:52] How about you come in-house?

[00:19:53] And so in order to avoid some of the conflicts with the grassroots development clients that I had obtained, I also started my side business, Advocacy 360, where I run a lot of my grassroots and issue campaigns through that.

[00:20:06] But then started doing more of that traditional lobbying role through Gamble and Schlemeyer as I became more familiar with the policies and have just picked up clients.

[00:20:16] I've been working with clients since then.

[00:20:17] And my focus, I would say, is mostly in health care.

[00:20:20] But we represent a wide variety of clients.

[00:20:23] And I think it's a very thrilling job.

[00:20:27] It's very rewarding.

[00:20:29] It's extremely stressful at times.

[00:20:31] I think one of my biggest critiques that my firm would say is that sometimes I tend to get a little emotionally attached to my clients and get a little too passionate about my projects when I need to just remember there's a strategy here in place and you just take things one step at a time.

[00:20:47] So I've really, really enjoyed it.

[00:20:51] A lot of people ask, how is it working with your dad?

[00:20:53] I think my dad's been my boss my whole life, so it doesn't really change that much.

[00:20:58] So it's been really fun to kind of see the business grow together.

[00:21:03] I came in with about three, four other lobbyists within that same year.

[00:21:10] And that's when the firm really started to blossom, when new clients were coming in and we were able to really adjust well to the new implementation of term limits in Missouri because we are seeing new faces constantly come in.

[00:21:25] And that requires a large team to be able to make sure that you still are maintaining relationships with all of these new legislators and making sure that you are setting the groundwork and education for all of your clients with all of these new faces.

[00:21:37] Jim, she's a killer.

[00:21:42] That's very kind of you.

[00:21:45] So in terms of you mentioned being a woman in this public policy realm and government affairs, you're also a mom of young children.

[00:21:54] How do you balance a very healthy lobbying practice with being a mom of two kids?

[00:22:01] Yeah, you know, it's tough.

[00:22:06] I have a lot of great friends that I have made outside of the firm, but in our similar lines of work who are also moms of young children.

[00:22:15] And the mom guilt is there.

[00:22:17] It is absolutely there.

[00:22:18] But luckily, we all have partners who are very familiar with our work, who knew what our work was going to entail before, you know, we set out on having on that chapter of our life of having children.

[00:22:31] My husband is a phenomenal father.

[00:22:34] And he, you know, when I have late night hearings, and I don't think my bill is coming up for a vote, but then it all of a sudden does.

[00:22:43] I'm able to make sure that I am present at work.

[00:22:46] And he is, you know, 100% covering everything that I need help with at home.

[00:22:51] And so it is tough.

[00:22:54] I think there's a lot of women who are older, more seasoned lobbyists who we can look up to to see how they kind of were the trailblazers on this.

[00:23:06] A lot of women who are in that, in the more seasoned category of lobbyists, a lot of them don't have children, but the ones who do, were able to learn from them.

[00:23:17] And so I'm really grateful for the paths that they have created.

[00:23:20] And it's also just wonderful seeing more and more women on both sides of the aisle being elected each year who also have children because they can relate with us.

[00:23:31] It's making it, it's making the environment more friendly to all kinds of workers, women, men, whatever, whatever it may be.

[00:23:41] Because it's a good sign of a shifting tide in this line of work.

[00:23:49] Well, Jim, I've got one more question before our capstone questions, unless you've got one.

[00:23:54] All right.

[00:23:55] I was at NGA's new governor seminar last week, and they asked all the new governors a great question that I want to actually pitch to you.

[00:24:03] Who is the most famous Missourian and why?

[00:24:09] That is a really great question.

[00:24:12] Um, so I went to the University of Missouri, and I am a proud member of Kappa Alpha Theta.

[00:24:19] So I think I'm obligated to say Sheryl Crow, because she also went to the University of Missouri and was a Theta.

[00:24:25] Um, and I, I think she, you know, I think she took a career and absolutely ran with it straight out of college.

[00:24:33] And, um, she is, we were all very proud to have her as an alumni.

[00:24:39] Um, it was very entertaining trying to see the, uh, the obsession with her composite in, in our Theta house during college.

[00:24:49] And it was like kind of the, there were times whenever guys would try to steal her composite, which was very, uh, which was always very funny.

[00:24:59] But I think, um, she's an extremely impressive, um, Missouri alumni.

[00:25:02] And that's kind of outside of the political realm, um, completely.

[00:25:06] But I, I think, you know, I think she just set a really great example.

[00:25:10] And, um, everybody knows where Kennett, Missouri is now because of Sheryl Crow.

[00:25:15] Building on women trailblazers.

[00:25:18] That's a good question.

[00:25:19] All right.

[00:25:20] Our two capstone questions are, where were you last in terms of where you traveled and what was the best meal that you had?

[00:25:28] Whether it was traveling around Missouri during campaign season or out of state.

[00:25:32] Um, and then the final question is where are you headed to next out of state, presumably.

[00:25:37] Um, so that if someone wants to connect with you on LinkedIn, they can send you a travel tip and a good place to eat.

[00:25:44] I love travel tips.

[00:25:45] Uh, this is an extremely timely question.

[00:25:48] Um, my husband and I just got away for our like 10 years of being together anniversary.

[00:25:53] And we went to New York city and our plan was to sit down and eat wherever we could, because we don't really get to sit and eat at home.

[00:26:01] So we went to this fantastic restaurant.

[00:26:05] It's actually in the museum of modern art.

[00:26:08] Um, it's called the modern and it was a seven course chef's menu.

[00:26:14] And we ate so much.

[00:26:16] And there was just, I couldn't even tell you what we ate because it was all so incredibly fancy and so delicious.

[00:26:21] And so just portions just kept coming out and coming out.

[00:26:25] So that was phenomenal.

[00:26:27] Um, and then our next venture is going to be with our children over, um, New Year's Eve.

[00:26:32] We are going to try to soak up some sun before I am trapped in the Missouri capital for five months, um, in the Keys.

[00:26:39] So we are going, uh, to, um, my brother booked the reservation.

[00:26:45] So I, I think it's just North of Key West.

[00:26:48] Um, so this is when I let him childless brother take over the reservations.

[00:26:52] And then I just show up at the airport with my zoo of a family.

[00:26:58] That's a great way to spend New Year's Eve though.

[00:27:01] I'm so excited for it.

[00:27:03] And, um, it'll, it's just nice to get some sunshine.

[00:27:07] Um, there's not a lot of sunshine in, uh, Missouri in December and January.

[00:27:11] So I'm excited to get, get some warmth before, um, the really cold winter months.

[00:27:16] Yes.

[00:27:17] I've gone to Jeff's session, Jeff's city during session and it was one of the coldest days.

[00:27:23] So yeah.

[00:27:24] And that wind, that wind can get going.

[00:27:27] It's the wind.

[00:27:27] The river too.

[00:27:28] It's bitter.

[00:27:30] Wear, wear pants, which I usually don't.

[00:27:33] Jim, I'll hand it back to you.

[00:27:36] Well, Sarah, thank you.

[00:27:37] Thank you for coming on.

[00:27:38] Uh, it was great to meet you and great to learn about Missouri.

[00:27:41] And, uh, we wish you the best in the coming session.

[00:27:45] How, uh, how long is your coming session?

[00:27:48] So we go in January 8th.

[00:27:51] Um, so for the constitution, it is the first Wednesday after this first Monday, um, or after

[00:27:58] yes, first Monday.

[00:28:00] And, um, so this is the latest it could start this year, which is wonderful.

[00:28:03] And then we go until, I believe it's May 17th this year, um, which it, it, at

[00:28:08] 6 PM on Friday.

[00:28:10] That is gavel out.

[00:28:11] We are done.

[00:28:13] And not that you're counting the days till then.

[00:28:16] Yeah, I have may have a tick, a ticker going on my phone.

[00:28:22] Well, Sarah, thank you very much.

[00:28:23] And for our listeners out there, we will see you next week.

[00:28:27] And thank you for joining us.

[00:28:29] Thank you.

[00:28:29] Thank you.