Residents of District 3 won’t be represented in the Missouri Senate for the rest of the year, but their senator for the last seven years, Gary Romine, has promised they won’t be forgotten.
Romine, 63, of Farmington was appointed by Gov. Mike Parson to fill a vacancy on the State Tax Commission. His appointment was confirmed by his fellow senators on Jan. 30.
Romine, whose district includes parts of southern Jefferson County, was barred from running for a third four-year Senate term under the state’s term limits standards, so 2020 was his last year in the General Assembly, regardless.
While Parson has the authority to call for a special election to fill the District 3 seat, Romine said the governor has told him that, because an election will be held this year anyway, he’s not likely to order an election.
“I have a good staff, and the constituents of the 3rd District are not going to go unrepresented. My staff will answer all questions. The legislation that I’ve filed for this session will be taken over by co-sponsors in the Senate, and if they mirror a bill in the House of Representatives, a state representative will be pushing for it there. The president pro tem of the Senate has assured me that the process of passing legislation will go on as usual.”
A spokeswoman for the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office confirmed that a special election likely will not be called this year.
“The governor always has the authority to call a special election in the event of a vacant seat, but he has not done that at this point and we’re going under the assumption that he will not. A special election, on top of all the other elections that are scheduled this year, will be quite a load for the local election authorities involved,” she said. “And anyone who might win an election, would only serve a few months before the winner of the November election is sworn in.”
Romine agreed.
“The governor realizes that it would be a waste of taxpayers’ time and money,” he said.
Romine started his new, full-time job and was immediately named the chair of the three-member State Tax Commission, which works with assessors in each county to ensure fair assessments of real estate and personal property. He will serve a six-year term on the board and replaces Bruce Davis of Columbia, who had served on the panel for about 30 years.
“The governor recognized that over the last few years, I have sponsored legislation dealing with the assessment process and understood my interest in the State Tax Commission,” Romine said of his appointment.
He said his decision to leave the Senate 11 months prematurely was “bittersweet.”
“This is a chance to do something I’m very interested in, but at the same time, it’s been a blessing to represent the people of the 3rd District for seven years,” he said.
He said he accomplished most of his goals in the General Assembly.
“I think I’ve been fortunate in that I’ve been able to pass most of what I set out to do when I was first elected,” he said.
Among those achievements, he said, were an amendment for the state to fully fund the Foundation Formula, the state’s primary method of distributing money to public school districts and maintaining that status, and legislation that allows school districts to issue a certification to students enrolled in trade programs if they offer appropriate curriculum.
“I’m also proud of the fact that, in opposition to some of my fellow Republicans, I’ve stood up for labor and working folks. I always felt that it was the right thing to do,” Romine said. “I like to feel as if I’ve always worked for the citizens of Missouri.”
He said he will be paid $113,000 a year in his new role – a nice raise from the $35,915 annual salary plus $115 per day expense allowance for each day the General Assembly is in session (from January through May).
He noted, however, that the State Tax Commission job is a regular, full-time job, rather than the part-time commitment that state senators and representatives fill.
“Although sometimes being a senator felt like a full-time job, this new job truly is,” he said. “There will be quite a lot of research and traveling around the state to meet and speak with the assessor in each county. The issues around taxation are complex, and they affect everyone. While no one likes to pay property taxes, they’re the taxes that fund your schools, your ambulance and fire protection districts,” he said.
The demands on his time will take him away from his business, Show-Me Rent to Own, but Romine said his operations manager and his wife, Kathy, have been operating it on a day-to-day basis for a while, so not much will change.
He and Kathy have five children and 12 grandchildren. Filing for the Aug. 4 primary election opens Feb. 25 and runs through March 31. The winner of each political party’s primary will run against each other in the Nov. 3 general election.
District 3 includes the southern half of Jefferson County, including De Soto, Hillsboro and Olympian Village and parts of Cedar Hill, Dittmer and Festus. It also takes in all of Ste. Genevieve, St. Francois, Washington, Iron and Reynolds counties. Kent Scism, a Farmington auto dealer, has announced he plans to run for the seat as a Republican.