On the latest edition of the Politically Speaking podcast, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies welcome back state Rep. Shamed Dogan to the program.
The Ballwin Republican represents a portion of western and southwestern St. Louis County. He is seeking his second term in the Missouri House in his GOP-leaning state House district.
Dogan recently had an op-ed in the National Review detailing his thoughts and policy ideas on improving relations between police and African-Americans. He’s also called for an overhaul for how the state analyzes racial profiling data – and how state government can follow through on the annual reports.
Additionally, Dogan played a major role in crafting a bill implementing a photo identification requirement for voting. His amendment would pay for corresponding documentation (such a birth certificate or marriage license) needed to get a photo ID. That implementation legislation could face a veto override this year.
Unlike other Republicans, Dogan has steadfastly refused to endorse GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. He’s more optimistic about the candidates on the Missouri Republican statewide ticket, whose fate could be affected by the presidential contest.
Here’s some of what Dogan had to say during the show:
- Dogan wrote his op-ed partly because there “was a lot of false dichotomies that people put there.” “You either have to be pro-police, not critical of them at all, or you have to be so skeptical of police that you essentially criticize their legitimacy,” he said. “And so what I wanted to do is talk about reforms that we could institute to increase people’s confidence in police again.”
- One policy proposal that Dogan supports is bringing in an independent entity to investigate police-involved killings. He said a similar law in Wisconsin helped engender trust between police and citizens.
- Even if a constitutional amendment authorizing a photo identification requirement passes and an implementation bill gets overridden, Dogan expects opponent of the proposals to sue. “What we’ve done, again, on the cost portion of it addresses one of the concerns that has gotten those laws struck down in other states,” he said, referring to the provision paying for supporting documents needed to get photo IDs.
- Dogan said the presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is “depressing.” “This is an unprecedented presidential election year,” he said. “We have the two most unpopular nominees from both parties who are just widely distrusted and widely disliked. And I think I’m in pretty good company on the Republican side with being very disappointed on how our party chose. But at the same time, there’s no way I could vote for Hillary Clinton.”
Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum
Follow Jo Mannies on Twitter: @jmannies
Follow Shamed Dogan on Twitter: @Dogan4Rep
Music: “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins
