Claire McCaskill’s Husband has an interest in public housing and federal grants. At the time McCaskill became a US Senator her husband was making between $1,608 and $16,731 a year. Eight years and $131 million in federal grants later he now makes $365,374 and $1,118,158.
The grants are given directly to the housing complex, not the investors but the complex distributes profits to the shareholders. That seems like a mighty steep raise for McCaskill’s husband, Joseph Shepard, and in public housing, too. How did the complex get such large grants and why did they get them after McCaskill took office? Seems a little too convenient for my tastes.
This is a matter that should be looked into. If she is responsible for those grants, the Missouri voters need to know that before November.
The Kansas City Star reported:
Businesses tied to U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s husband have been awarded more than $131 million in federal subsidies since the Missouri Democrat took office in 2007, an analysis by The Kansas City Star found.
Joseph Shepard’s personal income from his investments in those businesses has grown exponentially during his wife’s two terms in the Senate.
The federal payments don’t go directly into Shepard’s pocket. Most of the money goes toward operating costs for government-subsidized housing projects Shepard is invested in. Those companies then distribute the profits to Shepard and other investors.
In 2006, the year before McCaskill entered the Senate, her husband’s personal income from those investments was between $1,608 and $16,731, according to the senator’s financial disclosure forms.
In 2017, five years into McCaskill’s second term, Shepard personally earned between $365,374 and $1,118,158 from investments in housing projects that received federal subsidies, the disclosure forms show. Disclosure forms only provide ranges of income.
There’s no evidence that McCaskill played any part in directing federal funds to businesses affiliated with her husband.
The senator does not sit on committees that oversee the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agencies that award affordable housing contracts and loans to developers and pay out the subsidies.
She has voted for some massive government spending bills that would have benefited affordable housing programs, but she also voted against others.
Asked to explain why federal payments to businesses affiliated with her husband — and his share of the profits — went up during her time in office, McCaskill’s campaign responded that the senator has nothing to do with her husband’s business investments or how the money is awarded.
“Her only concern when doing her job in the Senate is what is best for the people of Missouri,” said Meira Bernstein, McCaskill’s campaign spokeswoman.