Power Profile: Mike Kehoe, Missouri Lieutenant Governor

Mike Kehoe may have started off as a nay-sayer of electric vehicles, but not anymore. Now, he predicts that electric vehicles will be a significant portion of the fleet across the country. The change? Market trends, and his perspective.

A few years back, he noticed that electric vehicles were picking up momentum. His Ford dealership was the first in mid-Missouri to install a charging station. Electric vehicles started to get more affordable, charge times were becoming faster, and mileage runs were getting longer between charges.

“The industry is here to stay,” Kehoe, Missouri’s lieutenant governor, said. “You are going to continue to see all manufacturers produce electric vehicles as an alternative for folks who want to use electric as a means to power their vehicles.”

He pressed the importance of continuing to develop the infrastructure for electric vehicles.

“One of the top roles in the lieutenant governor’s office is with our tourism industry; it is the number two industry in our state,” Kehoe explained. “As people come visit Missouri and they have one of those electric vehicles, our ability to have charging stations at key locations all across our state really makes us a friendly state for folks.”

It is one of the reasons the lieutenant governor likes Ameren Missouri’s Charge Ahead program.

“I like the initiative for multiple reasons,” Kehoe said. “I like that it shows that Missouri can be a leader and welcome folks who have chosen to go with an electric vehicle.”

Tourism just happens to be one of the areas that falls under the duties of the lieutenant governor’s office. The other roles and responsibilities of the state’s second-in-command encompass advocating for Missouri’s seniors, working with the Missouri Veterans Commission, and running the Buy Missouri program, along with several other boards and commissions.

Kehoe transitioned from a member of the Missouri Senate to lieutenant governor in 2018, when appointed to the position by Gov. Mike Parson. Kehoe won election to the position in November 2020 by a roughly 19-point margin. He went from representing 180,000 people to six million. “Your responsibilities become the boards, commissions, and various groups, whereas as a senator your concentration is pretty much either creating legislation to help your district or stopping legislation that would hurt your district.”

He added that he also had big shoes to fill from the previous office holder, Parson — who presided over the Senate when Kehoe served as majority floor leader. Now, they are working hand-in-hand on two top priorities: workforce development and infrastructure development.

“Before COVID-19 hit we had made some great progress, especially in the infrastructure investment piece,” Kehoe said. “In the governor’s first session we passed a bonding bill that enabled 300 of Missouri’s worst bridges to be repaired. Under Governor Parson’s leadership, we were able to put some money in the budget for broadband expansion.”

“All of those things were going down a great track, then COVID-19 hit. It brought the magnifying glass on how bad our need for broadband (internet service) is. We have since put even more money into broadband grants.”

He noted that the novel coronavirus actually sped up the timetable for getting folks access to broadband, and that in parts of the state where they were looking at getting broadband in several years, they are now looking at several months.

While speeding up broadband deployment is good for Missourians, the virus also resulted in record-high unemployment in the spring of 2020. Kehoe noted that people are re-entering the workforce, and some are retraining for a different career and going back to school. Strides are being made in the Missouri workforce development initiatives, he noted.

Kehoe says Ameren Missouri’s Smart Energy Plan is a plus for the state, in terms of workforce development and economic development.

“There are two pieces the Smart Energy Plan does for the economy. One is creating jobs and opportunities while the infrastructure is being built. Two is opening the door by providing a tool to attract expanding, relocating business,” Kehoe said. He pointed out it plays into the administration’s workforce development initiative, which includes training someone to work as a plumber, pipefitter, accountant, or line worker. Additionally, the Smart Energy Plan allows qualifying companies to earn a discount on their energy costs. In turn, these companies can provide more jobs and job training as they grow.

Ameren Missouri has always been very community-minded, Kehoe noted. From his perspective, that has come out even more as people struggle through the ongoing pandemic. Kehoe pointed to a variety of Ameren programs to help customers throughout the state.

While boosting jobs and the economy remains important to Kehoe, he says the pandemic is his focus in early 2021 – helping people and businesses recover.