Rep. Marsha Haefner Honored with Freshman Legislator of the Year Award

To honor and recognize the efforts of Rep. Marsha Haefner, R-Oakville, for her work this year on fiscal policy issues, Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives Steven Tilley, R-Farmington, recently awarded her the Freshman Legislator of the Year Award for fiscal policy.

“I firmly believe actions speak louder than words and as an elected official, those actions are crucial to the well-being of our constituents,” Tilley said in a statement. “I commend Rep. Haefner on her actions regarding the state budget showing firsthand that their actions demonstrate leadership for the people of her district.”

Through her role as a member of the budget committee, Haefner helped promote legislation that would balance the state budget in this difficult economic time.

When on the budget oversight committee, a crucial moment that stands out for Haefner in the past year is when she found a line item in the paperwork for the Missouri kit for rape victims. The state pays for collection of forensic evidence in rape victim cases. However, what Haefner found is that there are no set charges.

“Some hospitals are charging four times (more) than others. I am trying to schedule more of a set fee, looking at what other states are doing,” Haefner said. Right now any hospital can charge anything they want. I want to give crime victims what they need and also save money.” 

Even though Haefner is new and still considers herself in the learning stages of her role, she feels that being vocal throughout the budget process and asking questions are the keys to her success. She also thinks it is gratifying that the House does listen to the new people, with the committee working as a whole, not just senior members taking over.

“When you sit in a hearing and people just want to present what they want to give you, I’m not shy about getting to the bottom of things—with term limits we have to just jump right in. If you want to move forward you have to know what your strengths are and go after them.” she said. “And my business experience is helping me with the budget process. I always ask ‘How much is this going to cost?’ and ‘Is there a cheaper way we can do it?’ first.”

When asked what excites her most about being in politics, Haefner said that she enjoys getting to actually have a voice in some of the issues that we read about every day in the paper. When looking specifically at the Oakville community, Haefner thinks the one thing that effects it the most is education funding.

“It’s very frustrating that the (foundation) formula is not working in Mehlville School District’s favor,” Haefner said. “Some talk that we might have to redo it and it’s so unfair—it’s the proverbial redistribution of wealth. They are talking about funding for summer school and it takes a lot more out of the foundation formula dollars.”

Haefner said that every chance she gets she talks about the school district doing so much with so little.

“We have a great school district doing with less than what the city has, so we know that money is not the problem with the other school districts,” she said.

Looking forward to this summer, Haefner will be working on an interim committee with the budget and will make some suggestions for the 2013 budget. One of her focuses will be a task force on trying to make the corrections system budget more efficient.

“I believe we accomplished a lot this year, both in the committee and in the House of Representatives,” Haefner said. “I look forward to next year’s legislative session.”