Meet Ricky Dana – My Platform for Missouri by Missourians

Rural & Urban Economy

• Negotiate & expand trade: Work with USTR to lower tariffs on Midwestern livestock and crops, opening markets in Asia, Europe, and Africa.
• Stronger supply chains: Leverage USDA’s Local Agriculture Market Program and Regional Food System Partnerships so farmers and food entrepreneurs reach new buyers at fair prices.
• Main Street + corridors: Target EDA grants to revive downtowns, small-business corridors, and neighborhood commercial strips across the KC–JC corridor.
• Economic equity: Set federal procurement targets for minority-owned small businesses; expand capital for MDIs and community banks so entrepreneurs can grow where they live.
• Fair work rules: Enforce wage-theft laws and fair scheduling so hourly workers aren’t punished for caring for family or taking a second job.

Affordable Housing in Towns & Small Cities

• Help first-time buyers: Expand USDA Section 502 loans and down-payment aid for working families.
• Attract builders: Use LIHTC and Rural/Urban Infill Zones to bring mixed-income homes to small towns and city neighborhoods close to jobs and transit.

Strengthening Public Education

• Modern curriculum: Champion 21st-century skills and pathways that match local workforce needs.
• Local flexibility: Help districts support bilingual, special-ed, and vocational tracks.
• Recruit rural & urban teachers: Invest in “Grow Your Own” educator pipelines.
• Education equity: Push fair, needs-based school funding; protect Title VI/IX; and defend honest history so no student is targeted or erased.

Streets, Transit & Safe Infrastructure

• Fix it first: Bring federal dollars to repair roads, bridges, and water systems in towns and city neighborhoods.
• Economic mobility: Invest in sidewalks, safe streets, and practical transit links that connect people to jobs, school, and care.

Environmental Stewardship

• Clean water & air: Fund farm runoff prevention and upgrade rural and small-system water infrastructure.
• Renewable energy: Expand co-op solar/wind; support clean-fuel incentives and (where it fits) electric equipment.
• Habitat and soil: Pay farmers to conserve wildlife corridors, restore streambanks, and build soil health.
• Climate resilience: Strengthen floodplain protections and deploy community microgrids for energy security.
• Environmental justice: Require cumulative-impact reviews and community monitoring so neighborhoods facing the heaviest pollution get cleanup and investment first.

This is conservation the Missouri way: practical, rooted in our land and our neighborhoods, and built for the future.

Manufacturing & Job Creation

Partner with EDA regional initiatives to seed rural manufacturing, apprenticeships, and small-town and city innovation hubs along the KC–JC corridor.

Defend Democracy & Voting Rights

Support federal standards that protect access to the ballot and fair representation for every Missourian.

• End dark money in politics: Fight to overturn Citizens United and bar corporate PAC money so Missouri families—not billionaires—decide our elections.
• Real transparency: Require timely disclosure of political spending and stop shell companies from hiding donors.
• Fair maps & access: Back anti-gerrymandering reforms and protect early voting, mail voting, and accessible polling places.

Expanding Health Care Access

• Mobile clinic grants: Create an HRSA fund for mobile units and telehealth equipment in care deserts—from farm country to inner-city clinics.
• Telehealth + broadband: Use the FCC’s Rural Health Care Program and BEAD to connect patients with specialists from home clinics.
• Health equity: Protect Medicaid/ACA coverage; target maternal-health and chronic-disease gaps that hit rural and minority communities hardest.

Supporting Our Military & Veteran Families

In and around Missouri’s 4th Congressional District (or Missouri’s 5th if gerrymandered), I’m proud to support Whiteman Air Force Base. I will also champion the mission at Fort Leonard Wood for its statewide importance. These installations are vital for national defense and our economy.

• Advocate for modern infrastructure, housing, and services that benefit military families and neighboring communities;
• Direct federal upgrades and contracts toward Missouri businesses;
• Ensure our installations receive the investments needed to fulfill their missions and strengthen our region.

Support for service members doesn’t stop at the gate. I will push for easier access to healthcare, mental-health care, and job training for veterans returning to civilian life. When our men and women put on the uniform, we owe them more than thanks—we owe them action.

Criminal-Justice Reform

• Safe, fair policing: Ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants in most circumstances; require duty-to-intervene and a national decertification database for abusive officers.
• End wealth-based detention: Replace cash bail for low-risk, non-violent offenses with risk-based release and proven diversion programs.
• Smart sentencing: Reduce or eliminate mandatory minimums for low-level drug offenses and expand treatment courts; make reforms retroactive where appropriate.
• Second chances: “Ban the Box,” expand Pell Grants for incarcerated learners, invest in reentry, and implement clean-slate record-sealing for people who’ve earned it.

Civil-Rights Enforcement

• Strengthen enforcement: Fully fund the DOJ Civil Rights Division, EEOC, and HUD Fair Housing to investigate and stop discrimination in employment, housing, lending, and public accommodations.
• Data & transparency: Require public reporting on civil-rights complaints and outcomes, with community input on remedies.
• Access & accountability: Make it easier for people to file complaints, protect whistleblowers, and ensure timely resolutions that actually fix harm.