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Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Politics
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Deal to pay for Chiefs, Royals stadiums fractures Missouri Freedom Caucus
State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Republican from Harrisonville, listens to reporters' questions following adjournment of the 2024 legislative session (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). A group of renegade GOP state lawmakers whose quarrels with party leaders defined years of Missouri legislative inaction appears to be ripping apart over a plan to fund stadiums for the Chiefs and Royals. On Friday, state Sen. Rick Brattin stepped down as chairman of the Missouri Freedom Caucus just days after voting in favor of $1.5 billion in tax incentives to finance new or renovated stadiums. He noted the stadium vote in the statement announcing his resignation. The group had vowed to oppose the funding scheme, which it decried as a 'handout to billionaire sports team owners.' But Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, and state Sen. Brad Hudson, a Cape Fair Republican who is also a Freedom Caucus member, voted in support of the plan after a provision was added making changes to local property tax bills. The response from conservative activists was swift. Some accused Brattin of betrayal, while others argued he was duped by the inclusion of language allowing the stadium funding to survive even if a court tosses out the property tax provisions. 'For several years, discussion in (Jefferson City) revolved around conservatives exposing moderate and liberal Republicans by getting them on bad votes that showed who they were,' Bill Eigel, a former Missouri Senate Freedom Caucus leader who is running for St. Charles County executive, posted on social media. 'Gov. Mike Kehoe changed this dynamic. He is getting conservatives to vote as badly as the moderates.' Jim Lembke, a former GOP state senator and adviser to the Freedom Caucus, said the group is 'void of any leadership and has lost all credibility. They should disband and join the uniparty that runs Jefferson City.' Missouri governor allows more spending, property tax cap as he pursues stadium deal Tim Jones, state director for the Missouri Freedom Caucus, said during a radio appearance on Friday that he advised senators to vote against the stadium bill and was surprised when two members of the caucus ended up supporting it. 'In the light of day, there's some buyer's remorse. There's some regret,' Jones said, though he later added: 'To his defense, (Sen. Brattin) thought he was doing the right thing to protect the interest of his constituents.' Brattin defended his vote on social media, posting a video saying that while the deal wasn't perfect, he was determined that 'if we're going to be giving handouts to millionaires and billionaires, we need broad-based tax relief for people.' 'To me,' he said, 'this was a massive win. On the stadium, they were going to get the votes, whatever it took. So I tried to weigh this out and make lemonade from the lemons we were given.' Brattin's chief of staff was less diplomatic, accusing Eigel of treating politics like a game. 'He'd rather chase likes on social media than deliver real wins,' Tom Estes, Brattin's top legislative staffer, wrote in a now-deleted social media post. 'It's pathetic, and just one more reason he's never been an effective leader.' The war between the Freedom Caucus and Missouri Senate leadership raged for years, creating so much gridlock that fewer bills passed last year than any session in living memory — despite Republicans holding a legislative super majority. Tensions cooled this year, with term limits pushing key figures on both sides of the fight out of the Senate. The detente led to a much more productive session, marked more by partisan squabbling than GOP infighting. But the Freedom Caucus' history of using procedural hijinks to upend legislative business made its opposition to the stadium bill an existential threat to its success, forcing Republican leaders to take demands for some form of tax cut seriously. If approved by the House and signed by Kehoe, the legislation passed by the Senate would allocate state taxes collected from economic activity at Arrowhead and Kauffman to bond payments for renovations at Arrowhead and a new stadium for the Royals in Jackson or Clay counties. The cost is estimated at close to $1.5 billion over 30 years. Both teams have expressed interest in leaving Missouri when the lease on their current stadiums expire in 2030, and Kansas lawmakers have put a deal on the table that would use state incentives to pay for up to 70% of the costs of new stadiums. The Kansas deal expires on June 30. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX In order to win over Democrats, who were skeptical of the plan and still upset with how the regular legislative session ended last month, Kehoe agreed to increase the size of a disaster relief package for St. Louis from $25 billion to $100 billion. To quell any possible Freedom Caucus uprising, Kehoe allowed the inclusion of a provision in the stadium funding bill requiring most counties to put a hard cap on increases in property tax bills. In 75 counties, tax bills would not increase more than 5% per year from a base amount, or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. In 22 others, including Brattin's home county of Cass and Hudson's entire seven-county district of southwest Missouri, no increase in the basic bill would be allowed. The bill includes exceptions for newly voted levies and the additional value from improvements. Many of the larger counties of the state, including Boone, Greene, Jackson, St. Louis County and the city of St. Louis, were excluded from the cap provisions. Franklin, Jefferson and St. Charles counties were put under the zero percent cap. With the concessions, Kehoe stitched together a bipartisan coalition to get the stadium bill out of the Senate. There were 12 Republicans and seven Democrats voting to send it to the House on the 19-13 vote. Three of the chamber's 10 Democrats joined 10 Republicans in opposition. Eigel, who fell short to Kehoe in last year's GOP primary for governor, poured cold water on the deal, arguing residents will never see any tax relief. He points to language added to the bill after it cleared committee stating it is the 'intent of the General Assembly' that if any piece of the legislation is eventually ruled invalid, 'that provision shall be severed from the act and all remaining provisions shall be valid.' 'Kehoe's guys snuck in a clause that will allow the property tax provisions of the bill to be stripped out by courts while the billionaire stadium bailout remains whole,' Eigel said. 'When conservatives missed it in the final reading after being assured by the sponsor it wasn't in there, the disaster was complete.' A spokeswoman for the governor's office didn't respond to a question about the severability clause. Brattin keeps hearing from people who say he 'sold out,' he said, but he still believes the bill that passed the Senate was a win for Missourians. 'I just wanted to give some clarity to this,' Brattin said in his social media video. 'Whether you agree or disagree, this is where my heart is on this.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill expanding access to hyperbaric oxygen therapy for Missouri veterans heads to governor
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways State Sen. Rick Brattin of Harrisonville speaks riding a May 2024 debate (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent). Missouri lawmakers passed a bill Monday evening to establish a fund to pay for hyperbaric oxygen therapy for veterans with a traumatic brain injury and facing post-traumatic stress disorder to help prevent suicide and opioid addiction. With a unanimous 33-0 vote, Missouri senators sent the bill to the governor for his approval. 'It was remarkable to hear the testimonials,' said state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Republican from Harrisonville, during the Monday Senate debate. 'And we just want to set this up to where veterans don't have to go broke to receive a treatment that virtually has zero side effects and only true benefit.' The House passed the bill, which was sponsored by state Rep. Chris Brown, a Republican from Kansas City, in April with a 156 to 1 vote. Brattin sponsored a companion bill in the Senate. 'The bottom line is, there are too many veterans that are taking their lives,' Brown said during the House debate in April. 'They don't see a way out. They can't deal with it. And I think the oxygen therapy certainly will help and maybe even is the answer.' According to the Mayo Clinic, the goal of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is to get more oxygen to tissues damaged by disease, injury or other factors. Patients enter a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, where the air pressure is increased up to three times higher than normal air pressure. The lungs can gather much more oxygen than would be possible breathing pure oxygen at normal air pressure. The bill directs the Missouri Veterans Commission to compile an annual report with data about the treatment of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and its effectiveness. On Monday, Brattin said he and other senators were moved to hear how the treatment offers veterans an alternative to a 'giant bag full of prescription drugs that they have to remain on.' 'That's what we've seen with these veteran treatments,' Brattin said. 'It's just basically prescribing a whole bunch of these drugs that have massive side effects and get that veteran potentially addicted or hooked on to these to remain a functioning member of society.' Dale Lutzen, a retired senior master sergeant from the U.S. Air Force and a legislative advocate for the non-profit TreatNOW, was among those who testified about the treatment during a committee hearing in January. Lutzen said that veterans with traumatic brain injuries or PTSD are typically given prescription drugs that treat symptoms but don't cure the brain injury. 'As an alternative to drugs, hyperbaric oxygen therapy stimulates brain wound healing and it can reverse soft tissue and neurocognitive damage,' Lutzen said. 'This treatment allows patients to experience recovery of cognitive and neurological functioning without surgery or drugs.' Despite numerous studies that prove its efficacy, he said the treatment is not on Medicare's approved list and is therefore not covered. 'At its most basic level, (the legislation) gives veterans, who have been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury or PTSD, the right to receive the treatment as prescribed by a doctor,' he said. Lutzen has been pushing for the last four years to get the fund established, he said. Last year, the bill passed in the House but stalled in the Senate. According to the bill's fiscal analysis, the cost of reimbursing hyperbaric facilities for the necessary treatments could exceed $5 million annually. The funds will come from 'any appropriations, gifts, bequests, or public or private donations,' the bill states. State Sen. Stephen Webber, a Democrat from Columbia, attempted to offer an amendment directing the state to conduct a study on using psilocybin — also known as 'magic mushrooms' — to treat depression, substance use or as part end-of-life care among veterans. The provision comes from a bill Webber sponsored and one that's been filed for the last three years. In 2023, the House voted overwhelmingly in support of the idea but it never made its way to the Senate for a full vote. This year, Webber's bill passed out of the Senate Families, Seniors and Health Committee. However, it was quickly blocked by Republican state Sen. Mike Moon of Ash Grove who said he would rather the bill 'go through without any potentially risky amendments that would compromise the effort.' Seeing the possibility that Moon might 'talk on it for a while,' Webber said he'd withdraw his amendment and asked to speak with Moon directly about supporting the psilocybin bill. Webber added that like Brattin, he was moved by the testimony he heard about the oxygen treatment. 'When you find something like that and there's something that provides relief for some people,' Webber said, 'then it would be a shame not to try to expand access to it.'
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri lawmakers approve bill targeting pending abortion lawsuit
State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, mingles ahead of Gov. Mike Kehoe's inauguration ceremony. Brattin's bill on ballot measures passed the House Monday evening (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). A bill that would give the Missouri Attorney General the authority to appeal judges' decisions to temporarily block state law and change how ballot measures are written and certified was sent to the governor Monday. The House gave final approval to the bill in a 109-46 vote, with Democrats calling the legislation a 'power grab' that targets a Jackson County judge's temporary hold on the state's strictest abortion regulations which opened the door for Missouri clinics to resume surgical abortions. 'There is pending litigation going on right now,' said state Rep. David Tyson Smith, a Columbia Democrat. 'The Attorney General doesn't like how it's going because there's a preliminary injunction issued, so (Republicans) are trying to jam legislation through so they can change the outcome of the litigation.' The bill passed Monday would allow Attorney General Andrew Bailey to challenge the preliminary injunction before the judge issues a final ruling on the case. Democrats argued that since the legislation allows for appeals on 'any preliminary injunction that existed prior to August 28, 2025,' it is retroactive and unconstitutional. State Rep. Darin Chappell, a Republican from Springfield, called the accusation 'ridiculous.' 'There's only one ongoing case that this power grants that it could possibly be used for,' he said. The House passed an emergency clause on the provision, making it effective as soon as the governor signs it into law. The emergency clause says that 'immediate action is necessary to ensure judicial efficiency.' Missouri law limits emergency clauses to when they are 'necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety.' The bill's House handler, state Rep. Ben Keathley, a Chesterfield Republican, justified the clause because action could 'save the lives of women in (facilities that perform abortions) and the children that are the unnecessary victims of these acts.' State Rep. Raychel Proudie, a Democrat from Ferguson, said this provision was not part of the bill. 'We're not voting on what the court may do one day,' she said. The emergency clause passed along party lines with the bill's sponsor, state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, smiling at the House dais. Provisions on ballot measures from the General Assembly also drew criticism from Democrats who disagreed with shifting power from the courts to the Missouri Secretary of State. The bill would give the Secretary of State three chances to rewrite ballot language proposed by state lawmakers after the initial summary is challenged. The courts are charged with giving the Secretary of State advice and approving the final language. State Rep. Eric Woods, a Kansas City Democrat, said the legislation is an 'entire upheaval' of the current process. 'The court exists as a check on us in case we turn out some language that… has ballot candy on it which is completely unrelated to the topic at hand or something that is entirely intended to trick people into voting for it,' Woods said. He referenced a joint resolution the House is prepared to discuss Tuesday with language he says is deceitful to voters. Keathley said the courts should be 'the last step in the process.' 'We have a constitutional duty and job to send that ballot language through. The courts are only there to call the balls and strikes,' he said. Since the court has the final say, he said, there is still separation of powers. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill would increase Missouri secretary of state's role in initiative petition process
State Sen. Rick Brattin of Harrisonville speaks in May 2024 during the Freedom Caucus filibuster blocking approval of provider taxes essential to funding Medicaid (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent). In the spring of 2023, efforts were underway to put the question of restoring abortion access to Missouri voters. Abortion-rights supporters geared up to collect the roughly 171,000 signatures required to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. Per the state's initiative petition process, then-Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft wrote a summary of their proposed constitutional amendment. A staunch abortion opponent then running for governor, Ashcroft drafted the first part of his summary of the petition to say: 'Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to: allow for dangerous, unregulated, and unrestricted abortions, from conception to live birth.' It was not what the drafters had in mind. They took him to court — and won. A judge nixed Ashcroft's summary and wrote a new one. A Republican-sponsored bill that has cleared the state Senate and received a House committee hearing Tuesday would make it more difficult for judges to rewrite a secretary of state's ballot summary. 'To me this is a gross overstepping of the judiciary branch,' state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville and the bill sponsor, said at Tuesday's hearing. In Brattin's opinion, shared by opponents to abortion rights, the courts wrote a summary slanted in favor of the initiative petition that would become Amendment 3, ultimately passed by voters last November. Senate Bill 22 allows a group to appeal the secretary of state's summary. The court can make recommendations, but the secretary of state must revise the language within seven days If the court finds that summary unfair, the secretary gets five days to write another draft. This process can happen one last time, and upon third revision the secretary gets just three days. Only then, if the court still finds the summary unfair, can a judge rewrite it. The back-and-forth process must take place on a set timeline prior to the general election. Brattin's original bill eliminated the court's ability to rewrite a ballot summary, he said at the committee hearing, but he worked with Senate Democrats to amend it. 'This was (a) compromise,' Brattin said. For opponents of the bill, the timeline would make it nearly impossible to oppose the secretary of state's ballot language. The process would need to play out more than 70 days before the election. 'If the time runs out, the challenge is extinguished, and it seems to me like whatever the last language is would stand, even if the court still thinks it's not fair,' said state Rep. Eric Woods, a Kansas City Democrat. Sam Lee, a veteran anti-abortion lobbyist, argued courts can expedite cases related to an election. He spoke on behalf of Campaign Life Missouri and testified in support of the measure along with a representative from Missouri Right to Life. Groups including the League of Women Voters of Missouri, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, Missouri Jobs with Justice Voter Action and the Missouri AFL-CIO testified in opposition to the measure. Many voters echoed Woods' concerns about the feasibility of the proposed timeline. 'What if today our Secretary of State was a Democrat?' asked Ron Berry, a lobbyist for Missouri Jobs with Justice and a former staffer for Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. 'Would we be here today discussing this bill?' This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawmakers eye 12-year limit for mayor, school board and county seats
ST. JOSPEH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — New legislation making its way through the Missouri Senate would establish limits on how long local elected officials can serve in office. If Senate Bill 193 ultimately becomes law, many elected offices, including mayor, school board members and every county officer could see a 12-year cap imposed on total time in the position. The legislation is sponsored by Republican Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville. 'One thing that I've noticed in my time in the Senate is that at the local level, you have this kind of good ol' boy system that really keeps people out and keeping the new, fresh ideas out,' Brattin said. County offices like sheriff, commissioners, prosecuting attorney, treasurer and auditor, among others, would all be subject to the same restriction. Any term of a person elected before Aug. 28, 2025, or periods of less than two years of a person completing the term of another will not be counted if the law takes effect. 'This will still give people ample time to be able to have a real true impact, learn the office and that sort of thing,' Brattin said. 'But at the same time, you know, be able to pass the baton on to somebody else.' The bill would have immediate impacts in St. Joseph as many of the government offices locally do not have a cap on the number of terms an elected official may serve if continually elected by voters, including the mayor, city council, school board and all county officers. Despite that, no St. Joseph mayor has ever served more than eight years and few school board members reach that mark now. On the other hand, multiple county officials over the decades have served for more than 12 years in a single office. 'We've had term limits for over 20 years at the state level of an eight year term,' Brattin said. 'I think we've got to make way and give room for new, fresh ideas and new leadership.' With March 1 marking the final day to file bills this session, Brattin said he looks forward to furthering discussions with fellow lawmakers on the measure, which was referred to the Local Government, Elections and Pensions committee in early February. 'Once it gets moving, I'm sure there'll be some potential squawking about it. But that's part of the legislative process,' he said.
