Candidate questionnaire: Bill Haas

NAME: BILL (WILLIAM) HAAS

AGE: 67

PLACE OF BIRTH: Cleveland, Ohio

SPOUSE, CHILDREN'S NAMES:

Tony, 22, math teacher; not currently married

EDUCATION:

Yale, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, English

Harvard Law School

certified in 5-12 math, abcte.org

OCCUPATION:

currently lawyer with temp agency, college law professor, and secondary math teacher

EMPLOYER:

Imagine Schools (just closed by state of Missouri, Harris Stowe State University

BUSINESSES OWNED, ALL OR PART: none

PUBLIC OFFICES HELD OR SOUGHT; GIVE DATES:

St. Louis Elected School Board, 1997-2005, 2010-present

WEBSITE:

www.votebillhaas.com (or www.runbillrun.com)

WHAT CAN THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR DO TO ATTRACT MORE JOBS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO MISSOURI?

A well-educated workforce is the key to developing and attracting new jobs. We do this with making available more money for college, more technical training, partnering the business community with our 8th graders, more parental involvement, emphasizing reading in early grades (zero tolerance of any child not readying at grade level by 3d grade), and more early childhood education.

THE CURRENT LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR HAS MADE CLEAR HIS PERSONAL OPPOSITION TO HEALTH CARE REFORM. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE LAW?

I like it. I'm an advocate of single-payer, i.e., Medicare for all. We all like our Medicare, and we need it for all. It's also the most economical way to reign in health-care costs. Only pharmaceutical and insurance companies wont like it, and I can live with that. As for the current law, the Supreme Court will decide.

HOW CAN THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR BEST SERVE THE STATE OF MISSOURI?

By emphasizing the following issues: (1) caring for our seniors without bankrupting our children (2) caring for our veterans, unemployed, disabled and homeless especially (3) freezing property taxes for seniors (4) A constitutional amendment to ban corporate political contributions and limit individual ones; Missouri should be first state to call for such a Constitutional Convention (5) Stopping the abuse and torture of animals on factory farms, without hurting family farms (6) No monies for companies like Walmart.

CLOSING REMARKS:

The Lieutenant Governor doesn't legislate. Most of my above issues should be bi-partisan. Who doesn't want good care for their parents, or our veterans, for example? But the legislature, especially the Republicans are bought and paid for by corporate lobbyists and don't well represent the people. So if the legislature wont work with me on these issues, I will take my case to the people by initiative petitions to establish new statutes or constitutional amendments.