Steven Tilley

A 1989 graduate of Perryville High School in Perryville, Missouri, Tilley received a Bachelor of Science degree from Southeast Missouri State University in 1994 and received his Doctorate of Optometry from the University of Missouri-St. Louis School of Optometry in 1998.[4]

Tilley lives in Perryville. He has two children: Kourtney and Korrin.[4] Tilley and his wife Kellie filed for divorce on September 14, 2011 after 18 years of marriage.[5] The divorce was cited as a reason for him dropping out of the lieutenant governor race as well as resigning in August 2012 as speaker of the Missouri House five months before his term expired.[6]

Tilley is a member of the Perryville Optimist Club, Missouri Right to Life, National Rifle Association, Missouri Optometric Association, American Optometric Association, N.F.I.B. and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce. He is also a CHAMPS mentor and attends Immanuel Lutheran Church of Perryville.[7]

Republicans in the Missouri House had their biggest majority in history (106-57). Among his most visible events was erecting a statue of Rush Limbaugh in the capitol in the Hall of Famous Missourians.[6]

As Speaker of the House, Tilley served as an ex-officio member of all committees of the House. Additionally, he was specifically assigned to the House Ethics and Administration and Accounts.[4]

In April 2011, Speaker Tilley received national media attention for controversial remarks he made about Cairo, Illinois, a poor town on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. Due to heavy rainfall and high water levels on the river, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was considering a plan to destroy a levee on the Missouri side of the river in hopes of lowering the flood level and preventing severe flood damage to Cairo and other downstream areas. Destroying the levee would have flooded several hundred thousand acres of Missouri farmland. When reporters asked if he would rather see Missouri farmland flooded or the town of Cairo, Tilley responded "Cairo. I've been there. Trust me. Cairo." And further said "Have you been to Cairo? OK, then you known what I'm saying."[12] Tilley later issued an apology:

I was asked a question about blowing up a dam in Missouri and the negative consequences that happened to Missouri. As the Speaker of the House, (I believe) my first responsibility is to Missourians. And in my effort to defend them, I went on to say some pretty insensitive and inappropriate remarks about Cairo

When later interviewed by a Missouri television station, Tilley said the accusations that he was a racist are ridiculous and that when one does as many interviews as he does, one is bound to say something stupid.[13] The Corps of Engineers destroyed the levee on May 3, 2011, flooding 130,000 acres of Missouri farmland but saving the town of Cairo from flooding.[14]