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Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Stadium funding, gun rights law among casualties of Missouri Senate breakdown
Missouri Senate security shuts down protestors with a "stop the ban" banner in the Senate's upper gallery Wednesday evening (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). When Missouri Senate leaders turned to a rarely-used procedural maneuver Wednesday to cut off debate and force a vote to ban abortion and repeal a paid-sick leave law, they essentially ended the legislative session two days early. They also sealed the fate of a litany of bills. Among the final-day casualties: – A massive incentive package designed to convince the Chiefs and Royals to stay in Missouri; – An bill clarifying that a judge can't prevent a divorce from being finalized just because a woman is pregnant; – An effort to reenact a law penalizing Missouri police for enforcing federal gun laws. It was the 5th year in a row the Senate was unable to make it to the 6 p.m. Friday constitutional deadline for the session to adjourn. Even the House decided to adjourn early, announcing that it would work on bills Thursday then head home for the year. It marks the first time the House has not worked on the legislative session's final day since a fixed adjournment date was set in 1952. House Speaker Jon Patterson, a Lee's Summit Republican, said despite the Wednesday meltdown, the Senate actually functioned much better than any year since he joined the legislature. 'With the Senate, you just have to keep your expectations in check,' he said. 'But I'm actually very happy with the way things went. You can't always end the way you want.' After years of the Senate's discord being caused by internal GOP squabbles, Republican leaders celebrated soon after the early adjournment Wednesday by touting party unity and a host of big-ticket accomplishments. They pointed to legislation sent to the governor enacting state control of the St. Louis police, exempting capital gains from the income tax and pumping $50 million into a private school voucher program, among others. 'This session proved what's possible when Republicans lead together,' said Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O'Laughlin, a Shelbina Republican. But after a mostly placid legislative session, which O'Laughlin noted last week was marked by solid cooperation with Senate Democrats, the decision to cut off debate in order to roll back two voter-approved initiatives could have long-lasting consequences. 'It's sad. We tried. We tried to negotiate all session on these issues,' said Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, an Affton Democrat, later adding: 'You think things are going back to business as usual. I've heard a long time, 'well, nobody has ever made us pay.' You'll find out now.' Republicans cut off debate using a procedural maneuver known as 'calling the previous question,' or PQ. Used regularly in the Missouri House, it is used rarely in the Senate because the chamber has a tradition of unlimited debate and negotiations over difficult issues. Wednesday was the first time since 2020 when a PQ was invoked and the first time since 2017 when it was used during a regular session. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe spent the session's final days trying to avoid a PQ and win support for his plan to help finance stadiums for the Chiefs and Royals. Kehoe formally rolled out his plan Tuesday morning to cover up to half of the cost of a new stadium for the Royals and a refurbished Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs. It easily cleared the House, but when it landed in the Senate, it ran into a wall of resistance. Looking for a path forward on stadium funding, Kehoe began pushing for a compromise that could lead to a vote on his plan along with paid sick leave and abortion. Democrats agreed to end their filibuster and allow Republicans to repeal the paid sick leave law — which voters approved in November and went into effect May 1 — as long the minimum wage would continue to be indexed to inflation. They also were willing to let Republicans put an abortion ban constitutional amendment on the statewide ballot if they agreed to remove a provision purporting to ban gender-affirming care for minors, something that is already illegal in Missouri. A repeal of Missouri's abortion ban was approved by voters in November, and Planned Parenthood clinics have restarted surgical abortions for those up to 12 weeks gestation at clinics in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis. 'We put everything out there on negotiations, we were willing to do everything,' said state Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat. 'It came down to making sure that we were being honest with voters when it came to amendments that were being placed on the ballot. And to us, it is non negotiable to lie to voters.' In the end, Republican leadership decided to deploy the PQ and force a vote. O'Laughlin defended the move in a post on social media, declaring that while she respects her colleagues on both sides of the aisle and is willing to 'work endlessly' to reach compromise, 'sometimes it simply is not something we can achieve.' 'Those who support conservative measures and vote us into office expect us to stand our ground on issues which reflect their bedrock beliefs,' she said. 'That is what we did and I am proud of all my colleagues for taking a stand for what we consider right.' Democrats contend Republican leadership was not interested in finding a compromise. 'Republicans did not step up and provide leadership,' said state Sen. Stephen Webber, a Columbia Democrat. The governor vowed Tuesday to call the General Assembly back into session later this year if the stadium funding plan didn't pass. Missouri is competing to keep the teams with Kansas, which last year expanded a tax incentive program in the hopes of convincing one or both teams to relocate. The leases for both teams' Jackson County stadiums run through the end of the 2030 season. Senators have also floated the idea of a special session to consider a $500 million construction package the House refused to pass that would have funded projects for health care, education and law enforcement across the state. 'You could possibly have a special session,' said state Sen. Nick Schroer, a Defiance Republican. 'But what's that going to look like? I hope my colleagues on both sides can continue moving forward. We showed that we could work together on the majority of these issues this year, both sides making concessions, and that's how it should be. Unfortunately we hit a brick wall, but I'm hoping for the best once we do come back, whether it's in a special or in January.' But on Wednesday, as the legislative session was collapsing under the weight of the Senate PQ, Democrats promised a much more confrontational approach. 'Moving forward, we're going to operate with an assumption that Republicans don't respect their fellow senators, they don't respect the voters, they don't respect the process and they don't respect the institution,' Webber said. 'We didn't pick this fight, but we're not scared.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Botched spending measure misses budget deadline
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Lawmakers are trying to figure out how to move forward after a botched spending measure failed to make it to the budgetary deadline last week. One of the issues was a dramatic increase in the amount allocated by the House and then the amount approved by the Senate. The original plan for House Bill 19 allocated more than $200 million for capital projects, including rural road construction. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now With only hours to spare, the Senate voted to increase that amount to more than $300 million. The version was then sent to the House, where leaders thought they didn't have enough time to get it passed. Speaker of the House Jon Patterson said HB 19 wouldn't derail the Legislature's business in the last week of its session. 'I think our relationships with the Senate and Senate leadership are still good,' Patterson said Friday. 'I think we'll continue to work with them. This is all part of the process.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Missouri House Republicans surprise Senate by killing $500 million construction bill
House Speaker Jon Patterson of Lee's Summit speaks at a news conference Friday with House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton of Noel. (TIm Bommel/Missouri House Communications) Missouri House Republicans unexpectedly refused to allow a vote Friday on a $513 million spending bill for construction projects, citing a desire to control spending for a move that was kept secret from Democrats in the chamber and members of the state Senate. The move sank funding for major projects around the state, including national guard facilities, Boys and Girls clubs, and community health centers, to name a few. And it could seriously damage relations within the House and between chambers. Up to the moment the House adjourned without passing the bill, this year's process for deciding the budget had resembled years in the past where even major disagreements over spending priorities was resolved in time to meet the Constitution's deadline for passing appropriation bills. House and Senate conference committees hammered out the details of the $49.8 billion budget for day-to-day operations over two days of meetings this week. Last year, no public negotiations at all occurred because factional Republican warfare in the Senate delayed spending bills in that chamber. The major new spending items in the operating bills going to Kehoe's desk include: A $300 million increase for the foundation formula, the state's basic aid program for public schools. $107 million to revamp the child care payment system so providers receive their money at the beginning of each month for the children enrolled in their center. $50 million to expand the number of children served by the MOScholars program, which helps parents pay tuition at private and parochial schools. A state employee pay raise plan based on longevity, with raises up to 10%, plus pay increases for Department of Corrections officers who work in high-security and administrative segregation areas. Only once, since the early deadline for spending bills was enacted in 1988, have lawmakers failed to pass any of the operating budget bills. Failure to enact those bills means they must meet in special session before the fiscal year begins on July 1. There is no similar urgency for the construction bill, except for the organizations and agencies planning the projects it would fund. Gov. Mike Kehoe could call a special session to consider construction spending or let the projects wait a year to receive money. There was no advance notice that the capital projects bill would not receive a vote. The final votes on the 13 operating budget bills came, for the most part, rapid fire. Only the bill that included the $50 million for the MOScholars program received extended debate in the House and it passed by the narrowest margin, 84-55, on a roll call that required 82 votes to pass. Along with the operating budget bills, three capital appropriation bills were pending when the day began. One bill authorized $171 million for maintenance and repair needs, the second allocated $513 million to new construction and a third bill has $2.6 billion of state and federal tax money to continue projects first included two years ago. The Senate voted on the capital appropriation bills first as it waited for word that the House had passed several of the operating bills. The Senate voted on each bill as it arrived from the House, sending the entire set to Kehoe's desk. The Senate was already adjourned for the day when the House finally debated the maintenance and repair funding and the bill to continue ongoing projects late Friday afternoon, just hours before the constitutional deadline. Only when the House itself adjourned without taking up the construction bill was it clear that the bill would die. The Constitution forbids lawmakers to consider spending bills in the final week of their regular session. House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, a Noel Republican, said at a news conference that he made the decision after consultation with House Speaker Jon Patterson of Lee's Summit and Majority Leader Alex Riley of Springfield. He said he did not inform Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough, a Springfield Republican, of his decision. House Democrats said they were not told, either. It was a purely financial decision, Deaton said. The House-passed budget, he said, projected the state would use about $600 million of what the governor's budget plan projected will be a $2.5 billion unencumbered general revenue surplus at the end of the current year. Kehoe's budget used about $1.1 billion of the surplus, but when the operating budget negotiations ended, the projection showed that about $1.6 billion would be spent. During negotiations on the nearly 600 budget lines with differences between the House and Senate, Hough held the Senate position on more than 350, while the House version was chosen about 185 times. For several dozen, a compromise amount between the chambers was included. On the majority of lines where differences occurred, the conference committee chose the higher spending amount. 'We had many things in there that we thought were good and worthy of doing and would have liked to have seen done,' Deaton said. 'But considering what we spent in the operating (budget), I just felt like we couldn't move forward at this time.' The decision to shelve the construction bill was not because the House perceived it had lost in budget negotiations, Patterson said. 'We don't think about Senate positions and House positions,' he said. 'We think about positions from Missouri, I think probably had more to do with we sent them the bill on the 17th and then we received the bill back with about six hours left.' Lawmakers have one more week before the session ends. There are major bills awaiting final action, including GOP priorities to roll back the abortion rights and the sick leave law approved by voters in November. Patterson said he didn't see any reason why refusing to vote on the construction bill would change whether those other bills pass. 'I have nothing but great things to say about how the Senate has been working this year,' he said. 'I think they'll continue to work like that.' After passing the operating budget, the House recessed and Republicans met in caucus. That is when the decision was made, Deaton said. 'They had great concerns that I would try to be fair to them and not ask them to have to vote on something that they hadn't had an opportunity to review and have input on,' Deaton said. The action hurts communities across the state that were anticipating projects that ranged from hospitals and new National Guard facilities to major research buildings, said state Rep. Betsy Fogle of Springfield, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. 'My members and I worked very hard to fund vital services to Missourians in House Bill 19,' Fogle said. 'I would like to deliver the promise and the effort that we made. And I know a lot of the majority party feels the same way. Looking through this list, there were members that worked very hard to bring dollars back home to our communities.' Hough confirmed in an interview with The Independent Friday eventing that he was not informed by Deaton that the bill would not receive a vote. 'Am I frustrated with them taking no action and essentially then killing the (capital improvements) bill? Absolutely.' Hough said. 'That's frustrating for everyone.' The Independent tracks earmarks — special items added to the budget proposed by Kehoe — and of just over 300 in the budget, 60 were in the capital bill that did not pass. Of those 60, 42 were in the bill when the House approved it. 'Disproportionately, they hurt their own members,' Hough said. 'The majority of the things in that bill were added for House members, so that just doesn't make any sense.' As proposed by Kehoe, the construction bill used about $139 million of general revenue and about $186 million of federal funds and other money. The projects included $50 million to support a new research reactor at the University of Missouri, $55 million for projects on the State Fairgrounds in Sedalia and $52 million for National Guard facilities. In the House-passed version, the general revenue was bumped to $216 million and new projects included $20 million for a parking garage adjacent to a convention center in Jefferson City, $11 million for a redevelopment project in Cape Girardeau and $6.8 million for a hospital in Salem. The smallest project added in the House was $60,000 for a county maintenance building in Dallas County. The Senate accepted all of those projects and added 18 more of its own, with items like $10 million for a community health center in Barry County, $8 million for Boys & Girls Clubs statewide and $1 million for improvements at an airport in Washington County. Because of the tight timeline for passing budget bills and House rules that make conference meetings impossible when the deadline is near, Hough had anticipated that by keeping everything in the bill when he received it, the House would accept it. He said at the Wednesday committee meeting that approved it that he had assurances from Deaton that was the case. 'The trust has been eroded with the lack of communication from the House,' Hough said. Deaton said he had not given Hough any assurance that the package would be acceptable. 'There was never any agreement, and certainly not one that we would just take anything if our insertions were not taken out,' Deaton said. House Democrats, who had praised Deaton for running a more bipartisan budget process where they received a share of the earmarked items, said the goodwill of that work has been damaged. 'What Rep. Fogle was mentioning,' said House Minority Leader Ashley Aune of Kansas City, 'about having not been clued in that this was on the table for the majority party, is a huge breach of trust between the caucuses.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Jackson Co. assessor could become elected position if MO voters pass amendment
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With the passage of a Missouri House joint resolution Thursday, voters will be asked to consider a constitutional amendment that, if approved, would allow Jackson County residents to elect their county assessor. Missouri House Speaker Jon Patterson, R-Lee's Summit, said HJR 23 and HJR 3 proposed a constitutional amendment that, pending the approval of Missouri voters, would require the Jackson County assessor to be an elected position. Procession route released for fallen Kansas City firefighter, paramedic Currently, Patterson said, Jackson County is the only charter county in the state that is not required to elect its assessor. The passage of the HJR comes amid concerns among residents and legislators regarding how property value assessments have been handled. Last month, the Missouri State Tax Commission ordered that the county roll back its 2023 assessments, a move County Executive Frank White called 'shocking' and 'dangerous.' The county on April 22 said it was evaluating the order. The county also recently announced that it has agreed to limit 2025 residential property assessment increases to 'no more than 15%.' 'This is an important step forward in the fight against unfair taxes,' Speaker Patterson said in a statement Thursday. 'With the passage of this legislation, voters in Missouri will get the chance to give Jackson County the right to have its own elected assessor, just like every other county in the state does. It improves accountability, cuts property taxes, and ensures the kind of transparency taxpayers deserve. The days of unchecked overreach by the Jackson County Tax Assessor need to come to an end.' FOX4 has emailed the county executive's office for comment as well as Legislators Manny Abarca and Sean Smith. FOX4 has also asked Patterson's office when voters can expect to see the amendment on the ballot. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri abortion ban clears House, heads to Senate despite concerns from top Republican
Missouri House Speaker Jon Patterson speaks to reporters Thursday after being the lone Republican vote against a proposal to reinstate the abortion ban overturned by voters in November (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent). The top Republican in the Missouri House said Thursday that a proposed constitutional amendment to ban abortion approved by his GOP colleagues doesn't go far enough to protect victims of sexual assault. House Speaker Jon Patterson of Lee's Summit was the lone Republican to vote against sending the bill to the Senate on Thursday. He didn't express his concerns about the legislation while it was being debated for four hours on Tuesday or an hour on Thursday, instead saving his remarks for a press conference moments after the bill's passage. The proposed amendment, if passed by the Senate and approved by voters, would repeal the reproductive rights amendment known as Amendment 3 but allow exceptions for medical emergencies, fatal fetal anomalies and for survivors of rape and incest in the first 12 weeks of gestation. In pregnancy, a woman's first missed period marks four weeks gestation. Patterson, a physician, noted people who are younger or lower income and people who are Black and Hispanic are statistically more likely to learn they are pregnant later into the first trimester. On top of that, once a survivor learns they're pregnant, Patterson said, they are dealing with not only the trauma of that attack, but also the logistics of getting in to see a doctor. 'A debate that we should have — and I hope happens in the Senate — is 12 weeks long enough' Patterson said during the press conference. ' … If you're going to say it's OK to (have an abortion) after you've been raped, now we're talking time limits.' State Rep. Yolanda Young, a Democrat from Kansas City, said during House debate on Thursday that bringing forward such an amendment 'desecrated the sanctity of the majority.' Democrats have accused their colleagues across the aisle of attempting to subvert the will of the people by bringing to a vote a new abortion ban less than six months after Missouri became the first state to overturn a ban by guaranteeing the procedure up until fetal viability. Patterson, who before the November election suggested the legislature should respect the will of the voters, said Thursday that 'taking something to the voters another time isn't really subverting the will of the voters.' 'It really is something that I think should be celebrated,' he said, 'that we have this process to amend the constitution, going back to the people and letting them have their say.' But House Democrats remain critical of Republicans' approach, saying the ballot language — the summary of the amendment that appears on the ballot — is deceptive. No where does the language mention the amendment would ban elective abortions. Instead, Missourians would be asked if they want to amend the Missouri constitution to: 'Guarantee access to care for medical emergencies, ectopic pregnancies, and miscarriages; Ensure women's safety during abortions; Ensure parental consent for minors; Allow abortions for medical emergencies, fetal anomalies, rape, and incest; Require physicians to provide medically accurate information; and Protect children from gender transition?' If approved by the Senate, it will go to a statewide vote. House Majority Floor Leader Alex Riley, a Republican from Springfield, said in a press release Thursday that voters could see the amendment on their ballots in 2026. The statement did not mention the possibility of the governor calling a special election as soon as this year. 'This is not democracy in action,' said House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Democrat from Kansas City. 'This is authoritarianism in action.' Missouri Democrats filibuster GOP effort to overturn voter-approved paid sick leave As is already in place under Amendment 3, the legislation would protect women's access to health care during miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and other medical emergencies. It would also outlaw gender-affirming care for minors, something that is already banned in Missouri. House Democrats took to the floor for an hour Thursday to oppose the legislation, sharing stories of pregnancy and abortion. 'What continues to stick out to me is how different and how nuanced each person's story is because our bodies are complicated and the health care needed to address any number of the situations that we find ourselves in is complicated,' Aune said. 'So why do you keep trying to legislate this vital health care out of existence with a one-size-fits-all policy?' State Rep. Brian Seitz, a Branson Republican who is carrying the legislation, said the amendment is necessary to protect women and children 'by returning to safety standards.' In addition to banning nearly all elective abortions, the amendment would reinstate several targeted regulations on abortion providers, or TRAP laws, that were recently struck down as unconstitutional by a Missouri judge. 'Voters in the past few years were given the choice between two extremes, choices with no middle ground,' Seitz said. 'Zero abortions, or what we have now, a landscape that allows for unfettered access.' Despite abortion becoming legal up to the fetal viability — generally considered to be near the end of the second trimester — access remains precarious. Procedural abortions are currently only available in the first trimester at three Planned Parenthood clinics in Missouri. Medication abortions remain inaccessible. While a number of House Republicans compromised by supporting the inclusion of exceptions for survivors, Democrats stood firmly opposed to any ban on the table. 'How many among us could have even an inkling of what it's like to be trapped physically, financially, emotionally, in a body and a system that does not offer mercy, only mandates,' said state Rep. Kem Smith, a Democrat from Florissant, as she asked her colleagues to imagine themselves in the shoes of a woman in an underfunded, marginalized community who just turned over a positive pregnancy test. She was among several Black women in the House who spoke against the proposal, citing Black maternal mortality rates in Missouri. A 2023 report from the state's Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review found Black mothers were three times more likely to die within a year of pregnancy than white mothers. 'When we legislate health care decisions that only women can biologically face without guaranteeing the support systems that make parenting a viable option,' Smith said. 'We're not passing laws, we're passing judgement.' The proposed amendment approved Thursday is similar to the Senate version approved by a committee earlier this year over objections from one Republican lawmaker who opposes any exception for rape or incest. Any legislation must clear both chambers by May 16, when the session adjourns for the year.
