Ben Keathley

Economy

Ben’s law practice is in Chesterfield, and he is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Ben will support free-market solutions to strengthen small businesses. Learn more

Reform/Eliminate Certificate of Need programs that prevent new businesses from opening up. Learn more

Education

Ben attended Chesterfield’s schools for 13 years. He will vote for a Parent’s Bill of Rights and School Choice. Learn more

Reform budgeting so charter schools are not penalized and charter students receive equal funding. Learn more

Expand Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA’s) to empower all students, including low-income and those with disabilities, and ensure funding follows the students. Learn more

Update funding formula to account for current enrollment numbers. Learn more

Government Reform

Establish sunsets for professional licenses and licensing boards that don’t serve a direct public safety interest. Learn more

Reform “state-of-emergency” powers to prevent local government from enforcing healthcare directives that have not been passed by legislative bodies. Learn more

End tax subsidy programs that pick “winners and losers” in the economy and deprive taxpayers of public services. Learn more

Upgrade IT systems to better track and administer benefits. Learn more

Update the reporting systems and require all new hires to be immediately reportable to Missouri Department of Labor. Learn more

Require additional transparency portals to improve public access to information regarding administrative and elected official, including school curricula. Learn more

Healthcare

Reduce waste in the system by upgrading Medicaid’s IT systems, and encourage greater accountability. Learn more

Reduce red-tape around telemedicine to address the shortage of nurses across the state, and promote opportunities for providers to offer healthcare to more Missourians where it is practical. Learn more

Expand value-based payment initiatives to encourage high-quality, cost-effective care. Learn more

Reduce costs overall through greater free-market healthcare reform, which will lower the price of healthcare for all Missourians, including those on Medicaid. Learn more

Repeal Missouri’s Certificate of Need law which keeps new providers out of the market to protect established providers in Missouri. Learn more

Require healthcare providers to publish pricing information to the public. Learn more

Implement a system of accountability to ensure easy access to cost of care from providers and insurance companies. Learn more

Taxes / Budget

Tax credits are overused in Missouri. We must wind down poorly-performing tax credit programs, and mirror the savings with income tax cuts. Learn more

Increase transparency and accountability by including all revenues in the annual budget. Learn more

Implement zero-based budgeting. Learn more

Improve transparency and simplify the appeal process for real estate assessments. Learn more

Don’t allow personal property assessments to be increased on a year-over-year basis based on inflation. Learn more

Adopt a stringent definition of “blight.” Property that has suffered from poor upkeep or mismanagement should never qualify to receive tax dollars. Learn more

Audit school districts to eliminate taxes not being used for public services. Learn more

Make every agency’s budget documents easily accessible online with readable formats and downloadable PDFs. Learn more

Require mandatory databases that are easily accessible to taxpayers. Learn more

Education and Medicaid account for over half of Missouri’s spending. We must reduce healthcare and education costs through a market-based approach and accountability. Learn more

Freeze property tax value assessments for seniors who own their own homes. Learn more

Use long-term value, rather than short-term snapshots of current home prices to derive assessed values. Learn more

Extend real estate property reassessment from every two years to every five years. Learn more

Let voters decide if a government body should provide NIDs, TIFs or other special taxing programs. Learn more

Eliminate credits for residential development, which diverts resources from schools while flooding them with more students. Learn more

Wages / Job Benefits

Allow new public employees to elect defined-contribution plans like 401(k)-style plans, with matching contributions from their school systems. Learn more

Prohibit unemployment payments from exceeding 100% of a worker’s previous wages. Learn more

Repeal statutes forcing local governments trapped in unsustainable pension models to allow alternative retirement plans that ensure long-term financial health. Learn more

Reduce the offset rate for partial unemployment benefits from 100% to 50%. Learn more