Missouri’s legislative session ends on Friday. Here’s what to expect
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The general assembly has sent over 50 bills to Gov. Mike Kehoe so far.
- Lawmakers are negotiating property tax relief measures including a senior tax freeze.
- Lawmakers said the General Assembly was more productive than expected.
Missouri’s legislative session ends this week, and lawmakers will chip away at the more than 200 bills it could pass by Friday.
So far, the general assembly has sent over 50 bills to Gov. Mike Kehoe. Over 200 bills and resolutions have passed at least one chamber, and could be brought to a final vote this week.
House Speaker Jonathan Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican, said several of the “priority bills” have already passed. The proposed constitutional amendment to repeal the state’s income tax with new sales and use taxes was a top priority of Kehoe and Republican lawmakers this session.
Patterson’s biggest priority in the final stretch is a bill that could provide property tax relief.
“We all said property taxes are a priority, and we still have yet to pass anything,” Patterson said.
He said the House and Senate are working out differences on a bill that would create tax credits for certain seniors, mandate specific financial details for ballot language on property tax proposals and reclassify residential properties
Directly impacting Kansas City, House Minority Leader Ashley Aune said she’s expecting an amendment to a bill that would preempt Kansas City’s ban on single-serve liquor bottles.
“I hate that our state keeps doing things like taking over control of our police departments and trying to preempt the energy codes and liquor laws,” Aune, who represents the Northland, said.
One attempt to stop single-serve liquor bans failed in the Senate on Tuesday, but it could be revived in another bill.
Patterson also said a grading system that publicly ranks schools on an A-F scale is on his list of priorities for the week. The proposal was one of Kehoe’s priorities in his State of the State address in January.
Other education bills, like one that would hold students back if they don’t demonstrate proficient literacy skills in third grade, don’t have the momentum to pass, according to lawmakers who spoke with The Star.
Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck said property tax reform is important to Senate Democrats, as well as provisions strengthening collective bargaining for first responders.
Gridlock expected, didn’t materialize
Democrats were expected to bring the Senate to a halt in retaliation for controversial procedural motions Republicans used last year to ram through a bill gerrymandering Kansas City. Kehoe heeded President Donald Trump’s call to redistrict the state in an effort to oust Kansas City’s longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.
Beck said the session started slowly in light of last year’s controversy, but the Senate was able to implement rule changes that got it back to work.
“We no longer wanted to be a rubber-stamp Senate,” Beck said. “If none of those were taken seriously, we would probably be in a state of gridlock.”
The result was a much more cordial legislative session than many anticipated.
“It was much more productive than anybody would have guessed,” Patterson said. “The whole environment has been reasonable, and so I think that’s been the most surprising part.”
Accomplishments touted
Both Aune and Patterson touted the state strengthening laws against sex trafficking, setting higher bars for allegedly frivolous lawsuits against websites with Americans with Disabilities Act complaints and a law clarifying that pregnant women can get divorced.
Patterson also noted a bill seeking to combat antisemitism in public schools and colleges, and a proposed constitutional amendment to repeal the income tax and replace it with sales and use taxes.
Aune, on the other hand, considered the proposed move from income taxes to sales and use taxes one of the low points of the session.
“I look forward to Missourians voting no across the board, because this is a plan that would raise taxes on 80% of Missourians, and seniors would be hit the hardest,” Aune said.
Looming debates
On Monday, the House Committee on Children and Families recommended the “born alive abortion survivors act” be passed. The bill states that anyone who attempts to perform an act that kills a child “born alive” can be charged with first-degree murder.
Abortion rights activists say the state’s infanticide laws already cover cases where an infant is born after an attempted abortion,
The legislation has drawn criticism on both sides of the abortion debate, with several Republican Senators retracting support after language that would have allowed lawsuits against anyone involved in an unlawful abortion was stripped from the bill.
A constitutional amendment expanding the authority of sheriffs passed in the House on Monday, but it is a cause of concern for Democrats over language directing sheriffs to apprehend and jail “all felons and traitors” in their county. Democrats worry the lack of a statutory definition of “traitors” could cause overreach.
Beck said he hopes to get through the session without causing any more problems for the state.
“Hopefully they won’t do any more damage to the people of Missouri or take away their voice like they did last year,” Beck said.
