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Politically Speaking: Rep. Mitten on legislative fallout from Vandeven’s dismissal

St. Louis Public Radio | By Jason Rosenbaum,
Jo Mannies
Published December 6, 2017 at 5:52 AM CST
State Rep. Gina Mitten, D-Richmond Heights
File photo I Jason Rosenbaum I St. Louis Public Radio
State Rep. Gina Mitten, D-Richmond Heights

On the latest episode of Politically Speaking, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies welcome back state Rep. Gina Mitten to the program.

A Democrat, Mitten is a lawyer and resides in Richmond Heights. Before she was elected to the General Assembly in 2012, she spent eight years on the Richmond Heights City Council. Mitten serves as the assistant minority leader, making her the second highest-ranking Democrat in the Missouri House.

Despite being greatly outnumbered by Republicans, House Democrats managed to make an impact on a number of fronts this year. They were able to contribute in the budget process, most notably with a proposal to shift unused money to restore cuts to in-home care services. House Democrats also served as vocal critics of Gov. Eric Greitens’ agenda, including the governor’s successful bid to oust Margie Vandeven as the state’s education commissioner.

Getting rid of Vandeven elicited criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. In fact, Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington, told theSpringfield News-Leaderthat he plans to filibuster Greitens’ board of education nominees who haven’t received Senate approval yet. Board members defended the decision, pointing to weak assessments for Missouri’s schoolchildren.

Here’s what Mitten had to say during the podcast.

  • Mitten has questioned whether getting rid of Vandeven will actually help boost test scores. She said poverty is a more important factor in student performance than who leads the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. “Until we address that, and frankly, address the wraparound services that are needed in every public school district, the status quo is going to remain,” she said. “It’s not about the bureaucracy, it’s about attacking the problem.”
  • She also expects that Romine isn’t the only Republican senator upset with Greitens’ board of education appointees. The legislature will take up the governor’s nominations to the state board in January.
  • Mitten said the legislature should deal with some of the shortcomings of Amendment 2, which imposed campaign donation limits on state-based campaigns. For one thing, she said lawmakers should make it more difficult for candidates to coordinate with political action committees which, for the most part, are unrestricted under the new donation limits.
  • While stressing that it’s still fairly early, Mitten is hoping Democrats can make gains in the Missouri House during next year’s election cycle. She said if voters have an adverse reaction to President Donald Trump’s job performance, that could make a big difference in the outcome in Missouri-based races. “We’re going across the state. And we’re letting people know we’re here, we’re organized and we need their help in 2018,” she said.

Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter:@jrosenbaum

Follow Jo Mannies on Twitter:@jmannies

Follow Gina Mitten on Twitter:@gcmitts

Music: “Independent Women Part 1” by Destiny’s Child

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Missouri News
Jason Rosenbaum
Since entering the world of professional journalism in 2006, Jason Rosenbaum dove head first into the world of politics, policy and even rock and roll music. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Rosenbaum spent more than four years in the Missouri State Capitol writing for the Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri Lawyers Media and the St. Louis Beacon.
See stories by Jason Rosenbaum
Jo Mannies
Jo Mannies has been covering Missouri politics and government for almost four decades, much of that time as a reporter and columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She was the first woman to cover St. Louis City Hall, was the newspaper’s second woman sportswriter in its history, and spent four years in the Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau. She joined the St. Louis Beacon in 2009. She has won several local, regional and national awards, and has covered every president since Jimmy Carter. She scared fellow first-graders in the late 1950s when she showed them how close Alaska was to Russia and met Richard M. Nixon when she was in high school. She graduated from Valparaiso University in northwest Indiana, and was the daughter of a high school basketball coach. She is married and has two grown children, both lawyers. She’s a history and movie buff, cultivates a massive flower garden, and bakes banana bread regularly for her colleagues.
See stories by Jo Mannies