On the latest episode of Politically Speaking, St. Louis Public Radio’s Sarah Kellogg and Jason Rosenbaum talk with state Rep. Mark Boyko on his first impressions of serving in the Missouri House, including his criticism of Republican education plans.
A Democrat, Boyko represents Missouri’s 90th District, which takes in St. Louis County municipalities like Kirkwood. He was elected to his first term late last year.
Boyko is opposed to providing state funds for Education Savings Accounts, which provide scholarships to K-12 public and private schools. Boyko said similar programs either ballooned in cost or prompted private schools to raise tuition.
Boyko also discussed:
- How his experience on the Kirkwood School Board prepared him to enter the Missouri House. While Boyko is still serving on the board, he’s not running for reelection. (Members of the House and Senate are allowed to still serve on school boards.)
- Gov. Mike Kehoe’s desire to overhaul the state K-12 foundation formula. Kehoe acknowledged rewriting the nearly 20-year-old formula will be controversial, which is why he’s planning to put together a group to look into the matter.
- With Democrats outnumbered in the House and Republicans not fighting among themselves as much as usual, Boyko acknowledged that his caucus is having a difficult time stopping legislation it opposes — such as a plan to place a gubernatorial board in charge of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
Boyko is a lawyer who represents clients who bring suit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, better known as ERISA.
Last year was Boyko’s second bid at running for the Missouri General Assembly. In 2016, he unsuccessfully ran for the 15th Senate District seat representing a portion of St. Louis County.
Boyko ended up beating Scott Mathewson by more than 20 percentage points last year to represent the 90th District. While Republicans used to hold that district consistently in the 2000s and for part of the 2010s, it’s become much more Democratic over the past few years.
