Former Missouri legislator appointed to state transportation commission

By Chris Fortune

A new road is being paved for a former Missouri state representative and senator who will continue serving the public in another role.

Gov. Mike Parson appointed Dan Hegeman to the State Highways and Transportation Commission on Tuesday. The commission consists of six members who govern the Missouri Department of Transportation.

No time was wasted getting Hegeman into the role after he received a phone call saying he had been appointed.

“I was told I had a meeting the next day on Wednesday and went down to the commission meeting and really got thrown into the thick of it all and began the process,” he said. “And really, I’m happy to be able to provide some rural perspective.”

Hegeman served as a Missouri state representative from 1991 to 2002 and a Missouri state senator from 2014 to 2022. Locally, he serves as chairman of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Planning Organization and as a board member of Second Harvest Community Food Bank.

An Andrew County resident for many years, his time in Northwest Missouri influenced his advocacy for rural roads while he served as a state senator.

“I hope that I’ll be able to continue that advocacy for the rural roads,” he said. “But also recognizing that we have to take care of all the roads in the state and certainly in the urban areas to keep our economic drivers going and tend to those needs as well.”

Hegeman said his parents instilled a strong sense of public service and giving back to the community in him and his siblings.

“They were very giving on, you know, boards and commissions and councils and such like that through the years, volunteering locally,” he said. “And that has continued on in my public service on the state level and here locally. I feel like I’m honoring my parents by continuing the public service that they taught me how to do.”

But the appointment to the State Highways and Transportation Commission may result in Hegeman stepping away from his positions with Second Harvest Community Food Bank and the St. Joseph Metropolitan Planning Organization.

“I think the demands of the commission will be extensive, so we’ll see,” he said. “And I still have a full-time job, so we’ll just have to see how the work-life balance works out.”

Hegeman will have to attend a confirmation hearing in Jefferson City, where he will see many familiar faces from when he served in the Missouri Legislature. A date has not been determined yet.

“I’ll be there in front of a lot of my former colleagues, and so I fully anticipate a good deal of harassment,” he said while laughing.