Hough, Quade offer insight into political process, challenges

Two seasoned Springfield lawmakers drew back the curtain on the inner workings of the Missouri legislature, including how bills get passed or paused.

Outgoing Republican state Sen. Lincoln Hough and former Democratic state Rep. Crystal Quade vowed to give unvarnished insight during the “Perspectives from the State Capitol” event June 29 at The Library Center’s Hatch Auditorium.

Quade, former minority leader in the House and Democratic nominee for Missouri governor in 2024, concluded her last term in January 2025. Hough, who served as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and made a failed bid for lieutenant governor in 2024, is in the final months of his term.

They answered questions about the deep partisan divide, the roadblocks to finding solutions on critical issues and their frustration with the role huge donors and lobbyists play. They also decried term limits, arguing state lawmakers only have a short window to make an impact before they are replaced.

“Neither one of us are running for office right now for a reason,” Quade said.

Of the political process, she added, “We’re both open books at this point. We’re so frustrated with so many different pieces.”

One of the pieces was “how little the citizenry was engaged in the process,” Quade said.

“The entirety of my eight years, I would knock on doors and talk to folks and tell them I was their elected official,” she recalled. “They had no idea who I was, or what our role in state government actually was, and how we dictated so much of their lives.”

Hough said too often lawmakers have also been uninformed about the bills they file on behalf of their political party or lobbyists.

“The shocking thing is when the bill sponsor can’t answer the simple questions, you’ve got to start wondering what is going on,” he said. “The sad thing is that right now, and really in the last handful of years, in my opinion it’s gotten worse, not better.”

Hough and Quade argued voters, not term limits, should determine how long lawmakers remain in Jefferson City.

“It’s detrimental to the state, to the institutions and honestly to the voters,” Hough said.

Quade said she supported term limits at the start of her time in Jefferson City but later concluded that the constant churn impacted institutional knowledge among lawmakers and increased reliance on the lobbyists.

“The lobbyists really are the ones with all the power, and it is extremely frustrating,” she said.

Emily Fessler served as moderator for the event hosted by the Informed Voter Coalition, a nonpartisan group that aims to educate and engage citizens and includes the Springfield Business Journal. Fessler is chair of the Informed Voter Coalition.

Even though Republicans have a supermajority in the Missouri General Assembly, Hough and Quade said the most successful lawmakers work across the aisle to build broad support. They said lawmakers who work behind the scenes without caring who gets the credit are often the most successful in getting legislation passed.

However, both acknowledged the partisan divide has grown more entrenched on issues.

“The majority of the time, we are working together, we’re friendly, we go to dinner, we buy each other a glass of wine,” Quade said. “I ran for governor against Mike Kehoe, and every time I see that man, he gives me a hug.”

Quade said the House and Senate leadership wield a lot of power, and lawmakers who fail to support legislation backed by their party face consequences, including the loss of committee assignments. That leadership can also apply the gas or brakes on proposed legislation.

She said committee assignments ought to be based on experience and skill, not currying favor with the leadership.

She praised Hough’s willingness to reject some Republican-led proposals, such as gerrymandering.

“He is one of the very few who ever had the guts to say I don’t agree with you and do it publicly,” she said.

Hough said there are areas with strong bipartisan support, including infrastructure, and economic and workforce development.

He and Quade said education used to be on that short list, but the partisan divide deepened during their years in Jefferson City.

“It’s the single most important thing that we can do to get this economy ready and get the workforce ready for the next steps,” Hough said.

They were both critical of the state’s decision to underfund the Missouri foundation formula, which determines a level of baseline support for public education.

Quade questioned the state’s decision to not put in the funding required to fully fund the formula – which ultimately lowers the state adequacy target amount per pupil – while, at the same time, investing more funds in private school vouchers.

“We are underfunding it based on the promise that we already gave everyone called the foundation formula. … We have have a promise that we’re supposed to hit,” she said. “We don’t hit that now.”

Quade said proposed changes to property and income taxes will only make funding public education more challenging.

“The problem that we have with our public schools right now, it’s bad, but it’s going to get way worse if we don’t make some changes,” she said.

Both lawmakers encouraged audience members to get educated and involved as voters or candidates. They said despite the obstacles, serving voters in the Springfield area was rewarding work.

“The people who serve in the legislature in any body of government are not these special humans who sit on a pedestal, who know all of the things,” Quade said. “We’re there to learn. We’re learning on the job, so anyone who’s ever been like, ‘I could serve, I have something to give, I want to try and make my community better,’ just do it, and you’ll figure it out.”