Missouri State Senate
Biography for Senator Bray

Joan Bray has served in the Missouri Senate since January 2003 after having served ten years in the Missouri House of Representatives. Joan has been a leading advocate for public transportation in the Missouri General Assembly serving on local, state and national passenger rail committees and the Governor's Total Transportation Commission. In her leadership roles on state transportation issues, she has testified several times before committees of the United States Senate and House of Representatives. Joan has passed landmark legislation to help poor, neglected and abandoned communities across the state by providing tax incentives for investments in economically distressed areas. She was a co-sponsor of the Historic Preservation Tax Credit, a highly successful program for revitalizing older communities. Among other bills Joan has passed are: establishment of Scenic Byways in Missouri, overhaul of the state's purchasing law and assistance to financially distressed school districts. Joan also has sponsored numerous bills concerning privacy rights, health care reform and campaign finance reform. Her most recent legislative success is a bill that creates the crime of human trafficking.

Joan serves on the Appropriations Committee; Ways and Means; Transportation; Committee on Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics; Commerce, Energy and the Environment; Joint Committee on Hazardous Waste Generators and Hazardous Waste Facilities; the Joint Committee on Transportation Oversight; and the Joint Committee on Tax Policy.

Joan has a B.A. in English from Southwestern University in Texas, a Master of Education in Counseling and Human Relations and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Joan represents the 24th District, which includes all or parts of 18 municipalities and unincorporated areas in St. Louis County. She lives in University City with her husband, Carl Hoagland. They have two grown sons, Noel and Kolby.