Who is Crystal Quade?
My name is Crystal Quade and since my election in November 2016, I have proudly represented the values of the 132nd Missouri House District. Each day that I walk into the capitol building in Jefferson City, I fight to uphold the needs of the everyday, hard working Missourians who make up our district.
I have committed my career to helping Missourians overcome challenges. Since my election, I have sponsored bills that combat the child care cliff effect, giving parents a way to work their way to success, ethics reform bills, and bills to combat the opioid epidemic. I truly care about the needs and concerns of my constituents and the bipartisan legislation that I push for in Jefferson City proves this.
I grew up watching my mother balance working overtime while trying to feed two children. I later saw my stepfather work his way up the factory ladder, his work ethic and dedication to our family driving me forward. I was the first in my immediate family to graduate high school and went to MSU, completing a Bachelor’s in Social Work. As a senior in college, I completed my social work internship in Jefferson City to learn more about policy’s impact on the profession. Within a few weeks, I knew that I would one day run for office. I learned very quickly that not enough legislators understood the realities of poverty. With social services making up the bulk of our 27 billion dollar budget, and with laws that dictate how services are offered and if folks are able to break the cycle, we need legislators who understand the implications of policy. I ran to bring my unique perspectives to Jefferson City.
I am committed to the 132nd. I am proud to raise my children here. I serve with many area organizations and committees working to break down communication barriers while helping families find tools to combat generational poverty. I have served on my neighborhood association board and I am a dedicated supporter of the local businesses in our district. Each weekend, I travel from Jefferson City back to Springfield to drink coffee with my constituents, speak at events that matter to you and your families, and to pour into our community.
I represent thousands of hard working Springfieldians in our district, a district I have lived in all of my adult life. I have a life experience that is sorely lacking in Jefferson City, the life experience of someone who knows what real life is like in the 132nd.
I have been and will continue to be a voice of equality and equity in Jefferson City for so many of you in the 132nd who do not feel heard. I know the struggles you face and the goals you have for your families. As your representative, I will continue to fight every day for the issues that are important to you because those issues are also important to me.
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Access to Affordable Healthcare
Through her work in government and the nonprofit sector, Crystal has witnessed far too many Missourians struggle with healthcare access, managing payments, and opioid addiction. Crystal has been a leader in bringing Medicaid expansion to Missouri, and is dedicated to addressing barriers Missourians experience in receiving affordable healthcare. She is ready to go back to Jefferson City to address these barriers including Medicaid application wait times, access to local hospitals in rural communities, and gaps in current Medicaid coverage.
Quality Education
Crystal has spent years partnering with school districts across the state to help our communities meet the most basic needs of Missouri’s children. Through her experiences in social work, she understands firsthand the importance of fully funding our schools. Thanks to Crystal’s dedication, Missouri fully funded school transportation in 2022 for the first time in years. In Jefferson City, she fights to provide educators with the tools and support that they need to ensure that students have access to a quality education, regardless of class, race, religion, gender, or location. As the first in her family to graduate high school and then the first to graduate college, Crystal knows the importance of affordable and accessible education. That’s why Crystal continues the fight to fund public schools and higher education in the Missouri budget.
Affordable Childcare
As a parent, Crystal has had to decide between quality childcare and affordability. She has had to look at her budget to make the hard decisions that families have to struggle with every day. Having access to affordable and high quality daycare and early childhood education programs has been a priority for her in Jefferson City. Since her election, she has sponsored bills that combat the child care cliff effect, giving parents a way to work their way towards success and has worked to secure child care funding for small businesses to be able to provide as a resource to their employees.
Support Missouri Workers
The fact that many Missourians work 40 to 60 hour work weeks and yet still struggle financially is appalling. Growing up with a mother who waited tables, and through her own experience working minimum wage jobs in college, Crystal understands the troubling financial implications of Missouri’s current minimum wage. She stood with Missourians and Raise Up Missouri’s push for a minimum wage increase in 2018. Crystal continues to fight every day for living wages, protecting unemployment benefits, the right to unionize, and supporting the Fast Track Workforce Incentive Program so that Missouri families can thrive and grow.
Reproductive Rights
Every person should have the autonomy to make decisions about their body and their life. Republicans have passed extreme abortion bans in recent years, including a trigger law in 2019 that banned access to abortion even in cases of rape, incest, or medical need after the Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Mothers die from childbirth in Missouri in numbers far greater than the rest of the industrialized world, and instead of promoting healthcare, Missouri legislators have placed burdensome restrictions on it.
Republicans have gone so far as to pass legislation that costs hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to defend against Constitutional challenges, while at the same time blaming budget shortfalls for lack of funding for essential items like school transportation.
As state representative and Democratic Floor Leader, Crystal has stood and will continue to stand with women for the right to make the best decisions about their healthcare for their own lives.
