Issues and Impact
Working Every Day for District 20
The needs of District 20 neighbors are connected. Good jobs, strong schools, access to healthcare, safe neighborhoods, affordable housing, and reliable local services all help our communities thrive.
Mike’s priorities are shaped by conversations with the residents, educators, first responders, veterans, workers, business owners, and community organizations of Independence, Sugar Creek, and eastern Jackson County.
Learn more about Mike’s work important areas below.
GOOD JOBS AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Mike wants eastern Jackson County to compete for good-paying jobs in advanced manufacturing, skilled trades, logistics, infrastructure, and critical-minerals production. That means attracting investment while ensuring local residents have access to the training those jobs require.
Mike helped secure nearly $5 million for workforce training in the area. He also sponsored the Missouri Critical Minerals Development and Security Act and the Missouri Defense and Energy Independence Act, connecting economic development with advanced manufacturing, education, and workforce preparation.
Mike also voted for the Career-Tech Certificate Program, which helps eligible students pursue technical and occupational training in fields experiencing worker shortages.
Skilled labor unions recognize Mike’s work and have endorsed him in the November 2026 District 20 House election, including:
-
Teamsters Local 41
-
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 124
-
Missouri Kansas District Council of Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA)
-
Sheet Metal Union - Air | Rail | Transportation (SMART)
SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESSES
Locally owned businesses create jobs, invest in neighborhoods, and keep money circulating in our communities. Mike supports reducing unnecessary barriers and helping small businesses find the workers, resources, and opportunities they need to grow.
Mike supported bipartisan legislation providing capital-gains tax relief for Missouri small-business owners, encouraging more reinvestment in business growth. The legislation passed the House with support from 58 Republicans and 32 Democrats and was signed into law.
His support for small businesses earned him the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Business for the November 2026 District 20 House election.
PROTECTING CHILDREN’S HEALTH
Mike wants Missouri to become a national center for pediatric and genetic-disease research - not simply managing childhood diseases, but accelerating the search for treatments and cures.
His proposed Missouri Cure Factory would connect children’s hospitals, universities, researchers, physicians, biotechnology companies, philanthropic organizations, and families around that shared mission.
Mike sponsored HB 2740 to establish a Pediatric Disease Task Force focused on advancing research into pediatric and genetic diseases, tracking research funding and outcomes, and recommending additional action to state leaders. The bill passed the Missouri House 139–1.
He also sponsored June’s Week legislation to raise awareness of rare pediatric diseases. It passed the Missouri House 147-0.
Mike supported individualized educational services for children with disabilities, including funding to expand Missouri’s Empowerment Scholarship Program. The program prioritizes children receiving special-education services and provides increased assistance for students with IEPs and students eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION TREATMENT
Mike supports connecting emergency responders with mental-health professionals, social workers, treatment providers, and appropriate follow-up care. He also supports expanding treatment and recovery services for people affected by opioid addiction, fentanyl, and substance-use disorders.
As a member of the House Budget Committee and the appropriations subcommittee overseeing health and mental-health services, Mike works to support addiction treatment, recovery services, naloxone access, youth behavioral-health programs and community-based mental-health care.
Mike helped secure $1 million for the Independence Fire Department’s ARCH Community Crisis Response program, which connects emergency responders with mental-health and social-work resources.
He also sponsored and secured House approval of $2.51 million for the Heartland Center for Behavioral Change to expand addiction treatment, detoxification, recovery housing, and fentanyl-recovery services, subject to a local match.
Mike supported bipartisan legislation expanding recovery high schools for students recovering from substance-use disorders. The legislation allows more schools and community partners to establish these specialized programs and provides funding for educational, recovery and special-education services. Mike voted for the bill, which passed the Missouri House 135–17.
FUNDING PUBLIC EDUCATION
Mike supports strong public schools, good teachers, career and technical education, special education, early-childhood programs, and appropriate local decision-making. He believes education funding should reach students, classrooms, and teachers - and produce measurable results to help our children succeed.
As a member of the House Budget Committee, Mike supported a final budget providing approximately $8.6 billion for elementary and secondary education. As federal pandemic-era education funding declined, Mike supported increasing the state’s investment - including nearly $300 million more for the Foundation Formula than the governor originally proposed. The budget supported teacher salaries, school transportation, special education, early-childhood programs, and career and technical education.
Mike supported more than $33 million through the Teacher Baseline Salary Grant program to help public schools meet Missouri’s $40,000 minimum teacher salary.
He also handled House legislation involving the Independence School District and broader issues including student screen time, parental access to information, school accountability, academic growth, and responsible classroom technology.
Mike supported public-school open enrollment legislation that would give families more educational options by allowing students to apply to participating public schools outside their home district. The proposal included safeguards limiting the number of transfers from any one district and created a fund to help participating schools cover educational costs, plus transportation and special-education costs.
SUPPORTING POLICE, FIRE AND PUBLIC SAFETY
Mike supports police officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, and other first responders. He wants departments to have the staffing, training, equipment, and resources needed to protect residents and respond effectively during emergencies.
Mike meets regularly with local public safety officials and goes on ride-alongs with officers to understand the situations they face, and how to support them better. Recognizing his work, the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed Mike in the November 2026 District 20 House election.
Mike chairs the House Subcommittee on Appropriations for Public Safety, Corrections, Transportation, and Revenue. His work to secure funding for the Independence Fire Department’s ARCH program helps first responders address emergencies involving mental health, addiction, homelessness, and other complex needs.
Mike voted for the final version of HB 495, which addressed law-enforcement oversight, school-safety planning, fentanyl-related child endangerment, street takeovers, and other public-safety provisions. It passed the House with bipartisan support and was signed by the governor.
Mike voted for legislation to create tuition assistance for police officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, dispatchers and certain dependents, to help make sure our communities can meet their public safety workforce needs.
Mike sponsored the Fire Life-Safety Damper Inspection Verification Act, establishing inspection and repair requirements for fire and smoke dampers in covered buildings. The bill passed in committee without opposition.
Mike sponsored legislation preventing money collected for the Highway Patrol Academy, crime-victim compensation, boiler safety and elevator safety from being transferred into general revenue at the end of a biennium. It received bipartisan support in committee and passed 12–1.
VETERANS AND MILITARY FAMILIES
As a Navy veteran, Mike understands the commitment our country makes to those who serve. He supported unanimously approved legislation creating new treatment and recovery resources for veterans living with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. As a member of the House Budget Committee, he also worked on funding for Missouri veterans’ homes and other health and care services for veterans.
Mike voted for HB 262, the Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury Treatment and Recovery Act, which passed the House with bipartisan support. It established a fund to help reimburse facilities providing hyperbaric oxygen therapy to veterans diagnosed with PTSD or traumatic brain injuries and authorized research into alternative treatments.
Mike sponsored a $1 million budget proposal for emergency and transitional housing for homeless Missouri veterans. The General Assembly ultimately included $500,000 for the program.
He sponsored legislation to protect qualifying veterans’ primary residences from certain civil-debt collection actions.
Mike also helped advance $900,000 for Veterans Community Project housing, and he has also developed a proposal to expand property-tax relief for disabled veterans and military retirees.
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY AND HOMEOWNER PROECTION
Mike believes working families and first-time buyers should have a fair opportunity to own a home. He supports increasing the supply of affordable housing, protecting longtime homeowners, and limiting the ability of hedge funds, private-equity firms and other large institutional investors to buy up single-family homes.
Mike sponsored HB 1657, Protection for Seniors and Veterans, to help protect the primary residences of seniors and honorably discharged veterans from being seized or forced into sale to satisfy certain civil debts. The bill protects qualifying homeowners who use Social Security, Supplemental Security Income or veterans’ benefits to pay expenses associated with their homes - requiring a court hearing before a creditor could act against a qualifying residence.
Mike also supported legislation aimed at preventing large investment funds from crowding families out of the housing market. HB 2077, the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act, which would prohibit large institutional investors from purchasing residential properties containing up to four housing units. It would also require qualifying investors to divest existing properties over time while protecting small local property owners, nonprofit housing organizations and community land trusts.
Mike also supports HB 3191, Ownership of Single-Family Residential Property, which would prohibit hedge funds, private-equity funds, real estate investment trusts and similar institutional investors from acquiring additional single-family homes in Missouri. It included reporting requirements, financial penalties and enforcement by the attorney general.
KEEPING TAXES LOW AND SPENDING ACCOUNTABLE
Mike believes taxpayers deserve a state government that sets clear priorities, avoids waste and accounts for how public money is spent. He supports responsible budgeting while protecting essential investments in schools, public safety, infrastructure, healthcare, workforce development, veterans and local communities.
As a member of the House Budget Committee, Mike helped review and shape Missouri’s state budget, including increased funding for education, public safety, healthcare, workforce development, veterans and local services.
Mike also believes property assessments must be accurate, transparent and fair. Homeowners deserve proper notice, a meaningful opportunity to appeal and protection from unlawful assessment practices that can produce sudden and unaffordable tax increases.
He supported several measures designed to protect taxpayers and improve accountability:
-
HJR 23 - Jackson County Assessor Accountability: Mike voted to require the Jackson County assessor to be elected and directly accountable to voters. The final measure passed the House with bipartisan support, and was passed by voters.
-
HB 999 - Fair Property Assessments and State Tax Commission Enforcement: Mike voted to strengthen enforcement when a county refuses to comply with a State Tax Commission order correcting improper property valuations. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support.
-
HB 903 - Personal Property Tax Relief: Mike voted to gradually reduce the assessment rate applied to vehicles and other tangible personal property. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support.
Mike’s work on Jackson County property assessments began before he entered the legislature. As an Independence City Council member, he requested that the city explore joining the class-action lawsuit challenging the county’s 2023 assessment process.
Mike continued supporting efforts to investigate and correct that process. A subsequent state audit found that Jackson County failed to comply with state law and that its appeals process unfairly disadvantaged taxpayers.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES
Strong communities require safe roads and bridges, dependable utilities, accessible sidewalks, and infrastructure that supports local businesses and good-paying jobs. Mike works to make sure Independence, Sugar Creek, and eastern Jackson County receive their fair share of state investment.
He supports cooperation among state agencies, local governments, and community organizations to move important projects forward and ensure that infrastructure decisions reflect the needs of the people who live and work here.
He supported continued investment in major transportation projects in District 20.
-
A $700,000 state appropriation for the design and rebuilding of Courtney Road in Sugar Creek.
-
The approximately $30 million improvement of U.S. 24 between Wilson Road and Route 291. The project includes street and traffic-signal improvements, resurfacing, stormwater upgrades, lighting, sidewalks, pedestrian signals, and ADA-accessible ramps.
-
The replacement of the northbound Route 291 bridge over the Missouri River and rehabilitation of the southbound bridge - an approximately $92 million project connecting eastern Jackson and Clay counties.
-
Approximately $3 million in sidewalk and accessibility improvements along Route 78, including new and improved pedestrian facilities between Maywood Avenue and Lee’s Summit Road.
As a member of the House Utilities Committee, Mike also supported legislation strengthening protections for underground utilities, helping prevent service interruptions, costly damage, and safety hazards during construction and excavation.
Mike sponsored House Bill 1346 to modernize Missouri’s port-authority laws to help secure investment in infrastructure and economic-development projects that create jobs in our community. The bill passed the Missouri House with bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats.
SUPPORTING LOCAL AGRICULTURE
Agriculture remains essential to Missouri’s economy, food supply and way of life. Mike supports Missouri farmers, livestock producers, food processors and agricultural businesses while encouraging responsible growth and strong domestic supply chains.
He believes state policy should help producers remain competitive, expand markets for Missouri products and protect the infrastructure needed to move food and agricultural goods from farms and processors to consumers.
Mike voted for HB 6, Missouri’s agriculture and natural-resources budget. The legislation funded the Department of Agriculture and programs supporting producers, animal health, food safety, agricultural-business development and the promotion of Missouri agricultural products.
Mike also supported legislation addressing invasive plants that threaten farmland, pastures and native habitats. The measure established a phased approach to stop the commercial distribution of several invasive species while giving Missouri nurseries and agricultural businesses time to adjust.
His support for workforce development, manufacturing and transportation infrastructure also benefits Missouri agriculture by strengthening food processing, equipment production and the supply chains agricultural businesses rely on.
Paid for by Steinmeyer for Missouri, Jessica Steinmeyer, Treasurer
