Priorities

In Jefferson City, Rep. Reed has led efforts to remove unnecessary barriers that prevent immigrants from fully contributing to our communities and economy. He has worked to challenge outdated licensing restrictions that keep qualified DACA recipients and immigrants from entering professions they’ve trained for, including healthcare, where Missouri faces serious workforce shortages.

Our kids deserve safe schools, modern facilities, and pathways to college, trades, and good-paying careers. Rep. Reed will continue fighting Governor Kehoe’s voucher shell game schemes and culture-war distractions that drain resources away from neighborhood schools.

Public education is the foundation of opportunity in Missouri. Rep. Reed believes in fully funding our public schools, paying teachers what they deserve, expanding early childhood education, and protecting classrooms from partisan political agendas.

Rep. Reed comes from a family of organized labor and supports the right of workers to organize, collectively bargain, and earn fair wages and safe working conditions. He's stood with union members and working families against efforts to weaken labor protections.

Rep. Reed introduced legislation to prioritize union labor and responsible contractors for state-funded projects, ensuring taxpayer dollars support fair wages, apprenticeship programs, and Missouri workers instead of low-road contractors who cut corners. Rep. Reed is also proud to have a 100% voting record with the Missouri AFL-CIO.

Rep. Reed opposes Mike Kehoe’s plan to eliminate Missouri’s income tax. That proposal would deliver an overwhelming tax cut to the wealthiest Missourians while shifting the burden onto working families through higher sales taxes. For families in District 83 and across our state, that means paying more at the grocery store, more for school supplies, and more for everyday essentials, all while millionaires pay less. Rep. Reed believes in tax fairness. We can grow our economy without balancing the books on the backs of working people.

Healthcare is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Rep. Reed supports expanding access to affordable healthcare, expanding and protecting Medicaid, strengthening rural hospitals, addressing maternal mortality, and defending coverage for pre-existing conditions. No family should face bankruptcy because someone gets sick. We must lower prescription drug costs and prioritize mental health care, especially for young people.

Rep. Reed introduced the Heartland Initiative in the Missouri House, a bold, comprehensive plan to position our state as a national leader in combating climate change while creating good-paying jobs here at home. The Heartland Initiative would invest in renewable energy, resilient infrastructure, and innovation across urban, suburban, and rural communities alike. Missouri shouldn’t lag behind, we should lead.

When the moment came to choose between silence and standing up, Rep. Reed chose to lead. In the face of Donald Trump’s latest redistricting push, an effort designed to silence communities and rig the rules, he took a bold, unapologetic stand. Rep. Reed, along with Reps Dean and Fuchs, led a 5 day 125 hour sit-in on the Missouri House floor, bringing the nation's attention to republican overreach in Missouri.

Not because it was easy, but because it was right. That leadership didn’t go unnoticed. Democratic leaders across the country from Vice President Kamala Harris to Governor Gavin Newsom, Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Democratic Party Chairman Ken Martin recognized the courage it takes to stand firm in moments that define our democracy. Protecting fair representation isn’t just policy, it’s principle. Rep. Reed has shown he’s willing to fight for both.