Missouri House 147th District candidate: Greg Tlapek

Name Greg Tlapek

Age 59

Place of birth Cape Girardeau

Education

Alma Schrader, St. Vincent's, Schultz, Central, University of Missouri, University of Texas Austin

Occupation Executive Director, Missouri Libertarian Party 2000-present

Employer Self-employed investor

Businesses owned, all or part

Page Partnership

Public offices held or sought; give dates

US Congress '94, US Congress '96, County Clerk '98, State House '14

Website ElectTlapek.com

Email Gtlapek@aol.com

Phone (573) 225-7187

Do you support Amendment 2?

No. Although I am entirely unsatisfied with our political process, monkeying with campaign contributions will not fix the problem.

It's not enough to count every vote. We need to make every vote count. Proportional Representation (PR) is an election method where you vote for your political party instead of an individual candidate. PR adds every person's vote to a total that bases representatation on the % of the vote each party gets. See ElectTlapek.com

Do you support Amendment 3?

No. I do not support "sin taxes".

The Missouri Libertarian Party plans to offer Libertarian perspectives on all six ballot issues. Not all Libertarians will agree on some of the issues, but very few Libertarians would favor increasing cigarette taxes. Watch for it at LPMO.org

What steps should be taken to improve funding for Missouri's roads and bridges?

Stop borrowing money to finance the roads and save interest costs. Do not raise taxes, as MoDOT would like. Do not put the question to voters. Let the legislature study MoDOT requests, and if the legislature thinks MoDot should have more money than transportation revenues generate, the legislature should give it to them from the legislature's own discretionary budget. http://www.modot.org/plansandprojects/construction_program/STIP2017-2021/documents/Sec05EstFinancial.pdf

Besides roads and bridges, what is the biggest challenge for the state of Missouri that the legislature needs to address?

The economic environment. How? Deregulate healthcare. Make Missouri the mecca for people looking to get or provide healthcare. Removed every obstacle to health care the state has erected, especially licensing and restrictions on construction of medical facilities. Deregulated healthcare would give double benefits of creating good jobs and reducing the cost of healthcare. As a start, embrace every scope-of-practice legislation other states have implemented to reduce barriers to entry. See Surgery Center of Oklahoma