Meet Your Missouri Legislators

Get to know your newly elected Missouri legislators and learn about their priorities for the 2023 legislative session!

Gary Bonacker

Missouri District #111, Republican

What do you believe the biggest challenges facing rural Missourians are?

Reliable internet access
Attracting businesses to the state, particularly those in the manufacturing industry

What should the state and federal government be doing to establish and maintain strong energy security in Missouri?

Missouri needs a centrally-located, easily accessible airport to continue to attract businesses to the state.
Would like to see funding obtained and directed to where it can do the most good.

What makes the state of Missouri special to you?

"I am part of an old Family Farm that has been in the County since 1832 at least. I serve on my School BOE and have had to resign from the JCSWCD Board. I am old enough to see the changes that Progress brings with it and I hope to help smooth out Progress!! "

Give us a brief introduction of yourself, what district you represent, and a brief description of the characteristics of your district.

My name is Adrian Plank and I represent the 47th house district of Missouri, which compromises much of northwestern and central Boone County. The 47th is actually one of the most rural districts held by a member of the Democratic Caucus. It’s compromised of much of the City of Columbia’s 4th Ward and the cities of Rocheport, Harrisburg, Sturgeon, and a few other small towns.

What are the biggest challenges your district faces and how do you hope to address those issues?

The district is heavily dependent on Agriculture and is also in need of a lot of infrastructure development. As a member of the Agriculture Policy committee, the Workforce & Infrastructure Committee, and the Rural Community Development Committee I hope to represent my district as best as possible and advocate for the people who elected me.

What should the state and federal government be doing to establish and maintain strong energy security in Missouri?

I am a firm believer of green energy policies and I believe that the state should be actively transitioning to these policies. I have actually put forth a bill, HB 1079, that would increase the state’s green energy portfolio quite noticeable over time.

Are you satisfied with the progress being made to expand broadband across Missouri?

While any progress is better than nothing, to be honest, no. Missourians deserve quality and reliable internet and broadband and they deserve it now. A large priority for my office has been to coordinate with the city of Rocheport to try and help them get reliable signal and internet brought to their town.

What makes the state of Missouri special to you?

Missouri is a special place, not just because I am from here, but because of the people. We have amazing cities in our state and so much potential.

Missouri District #47, Democrat

Give us a brief introduction of yourself, what district you represent, and a brief description of the characteristics of your district.

I am married to my wife of 26 years, Amy.We have a son, Donnie Ray who is currently in college, and a daughter Annemarie, who has gone to be with the Lord.I am a registered professional engineer and I serve as the engineer for New Madrid County, where I have spent my 28 year career.I am blessed to serve District 149.District 149 is a very rural district in Southeast Missouri made up of Mississippi, New Madrid and Pemiscot Counties. Agriculture is the leading industry and we have a very high rate of poverty down in the Bootheel of Missouri.

What are the biggest challenges your district faces and how do you hope to address those issues?

We face 3 major issues: Lack of good paying jobs, Lack of good technical training and a shortage of affordable housing. We began a strong economic development push about 15 years ago and are beginning to see the fruits of our labor in this area. We have some new industry moving into our region which will help with our job problem. There has also been a push with our high school technical skill programs and our junior college to begin training our young people to fill these positions. We also have an effort started to rebuild our small communities and build some starter homes for these young people to move into. As state representative, I hope to continue to support these local efforts and hope to take them to the next level.

What should the state and federal government be doing to establish and maintain strong energy security in Missouri?

In many ways I think the best thing government can do sometimes is get out of the way. We cannot put all our eggs in one basket, so to speak. We need a mixture of energy sources including, coal, nuclear, hydroelectric, solar and wind, to have true energy security. Unfortunately partisan politics seek to wipe out certain sectors of this overall picture, which will only hurt the citizens of Missouri.

Are you satisfied with the progress being made to expand broadband across Missouri?

I am satisfied with the progress being made in our area. We are very rural, which poses a huge challenge for broadband. Our Rural Electric Cooperatives have really stepped up and taken the lead to provide what our residents need.

What makes the state of Missouri special to you?

The huge amount of diversity we have in people, geography, industry, etc…There is truly something for everyone in the State of Missouri. All you have to do is jump in your car and make a short drive to enjoy it. I can’t think of anywhere else I would want to call home.

Missouri District #149, Republican