The losers in failed anti-crime special session: Gov. Parson, KC and all Missourians
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s special legislative session on the state’s crime crisis ended abruptly Wednesday, and largely in failure.
The Missouri House voted to adjourn without taking up Senate crime bills involving prosecutions in St. Louis or higher penalties for transferring weapons to minors.
It was a major embarrassment — and an unmistakable message — for Parson. “If leaders in his own party think his ideas are this bad, what is the rest of Missouri supposed to think?” said state Sen. John Rizzo of Kansas City, the Democratic leader, in a statement.
The governor appeared blissfully unconcerned. “You’re not going to hit a home run every time in this building,” he said Wednesday. “We’re very content with what we got.”
Taxpayers may be less happy.
For the record, House members were right to turn down the measure allowing the attorney general to bigfoot prosecutorial decisions in St. Louis. If Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Parson, and Republicans in the Missouri Senate would stop pretending to be St. Louis aldermen and do their real jobs, the state would be better for it.
The legislature did approve a measure allowing St. Louis police officers to live outside their city, a bill that excluded Kansas City’s officers. For that, we can be grateful. Lawmakers also approved a program to subsidize some witness protection costs, but where the funding would come from is unclear.
Other than those baby steps, lawmakers took no serious action to reduce the violence in the state’s urban communities.
Democrats were brutal. “The governor has wasted $200,000 and counting in taxpayer money on a vanity special session solely intended to boost his flagging prospects for election to a full term,” said a statement from House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat.
No one should cheer the failure of the special session to pass substantial anti-crime legislation. Bloodshed plagues Kansas City and St. Louis, and is growing in other parts of the state. A year ago we urged Parson to call a special session to deal with crime, a proposal he rejected.
He tried again this year, as the election loomed. Again, little progress.
There is much lawmakers could do to help reduce crime. They could give local authorities in urban areas the right to restrict gun ownership. They could approve additional spending for mental health resources in the state. They could increase money for the public defender’s office, which is once again sagging under the burden of cases and clients.
And it could return control of the Kansas City Police Department to the people it serves.
Lawmakers, led by the governor, took none of these steps. It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Jefferson City is largely uninterested in taking real measures to reduce crime in our city.
That means it’s up to us. Kansas Citians must do what lawmakers won’t: Reduce poverty and homelessness, ensure fairness in law enforcement, and yes, support legitimate policing efforts in our community. Those are the challenges ahead.
Voters in Kansas City should also take notice of what just happened in the state capitol, and cast their ballots accordingly in November.