Kansas City landfill fight stalls Missouri Senate as state budget deadline looms
Update: State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, ended his filibuster Thursday evening after lawmakers returned from a nearly two hour recess. The Senate adjourned Thursday evening without taking action on the landfill proposal.
A legislative stalemate over a bill designed to kill a controversial landfill project proposed in south Kansas City has potentially put the state’s roughly $50 billion budget in peril.
The bill at issue requires that cities within one mile of a landfill built in a nearby city be allowed to sign off before a project is approved. The current buffer is half a mile, giving surrounding cities little sway over the project proposed in Kansas City.
The standoff in Jefferson City pits leaders and residents in Raymore, Belton, Grandview and Lee’s Summit who oppose the landfill against a group of senators from outside the Kansas City area who had blocked the legislation from moving forward. Opponents of the legislation painted it as a major policy piece derived because residents were opposed to a single project.
Missouri state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, spent more than four hours on Thursday blocking floor action unless senators agreed to take up and pass the landfill bill. State Sen. Bill Eigel, a Weldon Spring Republican and potential candidate for governor, and state Sen. Jill Carter, a Granby Republican, later joined the fray.
The filibuster, which sent the chamber into a recess at 5 p.m., comes as the Missouri General Assembly’s constitutional deadline to pass a budget looms. Lawmakers have until 6 p.m. on Friday to send the state’s spending plan to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk. Failure to do so would be a legislative disaster and force lawmakers to return for a special session.
“I can’t imagine leadership allowing this to go that far,” state Sen. Greg Razer, a Kansas City Democrat, said Thursday, referring to the possibility of Brattin’s filibuster affecting the budget.
The landfill bill, which overwhelmingly passed the House in March, ran into resistance on Wednesday from state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, an Arnold Republican, among others. Coleman argued that much of the conversation about the proposed project was about its potential impact on the surrounding community instead of where solid waste disposal sites should be placed in Missouri.
“I think it’s imperative for the rest of the body to make decisions not just based on ‘not in my backyard,’ but based on what is the right policy for the state of Missouri,” she said.
Brattin returned on Thursday and began to filibuster all Senate action, vowing to hold the floor until lawmakers agreed to take up the bill. He pointed out that opposition to the bill was coming from outside Kansas City.
“I have to continue to ask this question as to why the Senate feels it necessary to require its member to have to stand on this floor apparently all by himself to fight for his constituency,” Brattin said, telling the chamber that he had drank a 5-Hour Energy.
Kansas City area residents, including Raymore Mayor Kris Turnbow, criticized the ongoing resistance to the legislation
“What we witnessed today were tone deaf theatrics from a politician with no empathy or understanding of the very real threats facing communities like ours,” Turnbow said Wednesday evening, referring to Coleman’s filibuster.
State Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Kansas City Democrat, said Thursday that while she supports the landfill legislation, she thinks there are legitimate policy reasons why it’s not a great idea. Arthur added that there was no denying the lobbying power behind the opposition to the bill.
The developers of the proposed project, called KC Recycle & Waste Solutions, have hired 19 lobbyists since the start of the legislation session. Local businesswoman Jennifer Monheiser is behind the project.
Monheiser, in a statement provided by spokesperson Jack Cardetti, criticized the legislation.
“It’s difficult enough to create and run small businesses without lawmakers trying to change the rules in the middle of the game,” she said. “We are glad to see a significant number of policymakers in Jefferson City sticking up for small businesses like ours and fighting this government overreach.”
Asked earlier in the day whether Brattin’s filibuster would affect the budget, state Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee’s Summit Republican, said he wasn’t sure.
“It’s a mess,” he said in a text message.
Before the bill’s inception, rumors of a potential landfill in south Kansas City led many city leaders to voice opposition to the project. The hypothetical site borders 147th Street to the north, Horridge Road to the east, 155th Street to the south and Peterson Road to the west.
In a previous interview with The Star, Turnbow said he feared it would impact citizens’ health and economic development, saying it bordered a booming neighborhood, schools and lakes.
“It just doesn’t seem logical to anyone except the initial investors that this is an ideal spot for a landfill,” Turnbow said.
Many other area leaders have voiced concerns over the last few months, as Raymore, Belton, Grandview and Lee’s Summit have all passed resolutions opposing the landfill. In March, Kansas City passed a resolution giving the city manager six months to investigate the city’s solid waste needs while putting a hold on “the approval of any permits, plan review, project plans, and zoning changes for such landfills or transfer stations.”
Despite Kansas City’s resolution, advocates continued to fight for the bill, hoping to quash any possibility of a waste area next to the surrounding cities.
This story was originally published May 4, 2023 at 5:28 PM.
