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State Sen. Brad Lager, a Republican, is running for state treasurer. He credits his background as a small business owner as the reason he is qualified for the position.

A Savannah, Mo., senator is pushing his background as a small business owner in his bid for state treasurer.

Sen. Brad Lager, a Republican, owns a car wash in Andrew County and is attempting to develop 15 acres of land there for housing.

But in a tight economy, loose meat sandwiches are posing his greatest business challenge. The first-time restaurant owner for about a year also has owned a Maid-Rite in a Columbia, Mo., mall.

As the retail sector is slowing down, so is the foot traffic, Mr. Lager said — thus lagging sandwich sales.

With the struggling economy, Mr. Lager is calling for more fiscal restraint and scrutiny from the treasurer’s office. He touts his real-world experience as one of the key differences between him and his Democratic opponent, Rep. Clint Zweifel, of Florissant, Mo.

“I’m a small business owner that wakes up every day with the responsibility of balancing a budget and meeting a payroll,” Mr. Lager said.

Mr. Zweifel counters that he’s the only one in the race with a master’s degree of business administration, which he earned from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Mr. Lager has represented 16 Northwest Missouri counties in the 12th Senate district since 2007 and chairs the Joint Committee on Tax Policy. Before his life in politics, he graduated from Northwest Missouri State University with a bachelor’s degree in computer management systems, a combination of computer and business studies.

He managed Northwest Missouri Cellular in Maryville, Mo., from 1997 to 2002, but got his public start at age 27, when he was elected to the Maryville City Council in 2001. Then he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives from 2002 to 2006.

He spent a year in 2005 as House budget chairman before his own fiscal restraint knocked him out of the leadership role.

House Speaker Rod Jetton, R-Marble Hill, withdrew the chairmanship from Mr. Lager, who had predicted a budget shortfall and wouldn’t build certain priorities into the budget.

“I felt there were needs out there that needed to be addressed that Gov. Blunt felt strongly about, too,” Mr. Jetton said. “I respected his opinion, but we had to govern.”

A surplus came instead of a shortfall in the following years, but Mr. Lager still contends government growth has exceeded the growth of Missouri citizens. With the vast majority of Missouri’s revenue linked to income taxes, he sees a tough budget year for state government, which grew at a double-digit rate following 2005.

“I believe we should always proceed with caution when spending taxpayer dollars,” Mr. Lager said.

Mr. Jetton described Mr. Lager as “very dogmatic” about cutting spending and keeping budgets tight.

“You’ve got to give him some credit, he’s been consistent,” Mr. Jetton said. “... If there’s ever a time to be conservative, it looks like to me we’ll need it in the next two years.”

Mr. Zweifel’s platform calls for a program that extends free tuition to high school graduates, while Mr. Lager wants to continue to promote the state’s existing 529 College Savings Plan, known as MOST.

“I think it’s very important every person pays a portion of their own,” Mr. Lager said of college expenses. “... When you start creating big programs, at the end of the day, somebody still has to pay for that.”

If elected, he wants to eliminate the “cumbersome red tape” in the state’s linked deposit program, which has set aside about $720 million for certain business entities to borrow money at a reduced rate. He said only $250 million has been lent out.

“It’s a very bureaucratic process,” he said.

He wants to streamline state computer systems so that Missourians’ unclaimed property balances are automatically checked at driver’s license bureaus and offices that handle social benefits so that their money is returned

quicker.

He sees the treasurer’s office as an opportunity to be a leader on fiscal literacy and intends to launch educational campaigns in schools.

“We have a lot of folks in this nation who don’t have a handle on what basic finances are,” Mr. Lager said.

Mr. Lager filed for the treasurer’s office after Ms. Steelman committed to the governor’s race, which she lost in the August primary.

Asked if he planned on running for governor someday, he said, “I don’t think you should ever rule anything out, but I’m not running for treasurer because I want a higher office.”

If he succeeds, he would be the fourth Northwest Missourian to hold the treasurer’s office, but the first from Andrew County.

Most recently, Mount Etna Morris, a Grundy County Democrat, served three terms as treasurer in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Two treasurers hailed from Buchanan County in the 1870s and 1880s — Democrat Elijah Gates and Republican Samuel Hays.

Alyson E. Raletz can be reached

at alysonraletz@npgco.com.