Somehow, Kansas, you did it: Your legislative session was even worse than Missouri’s
Lawmakers from Kansas and Missouri have gone home now. No question their efforts made life more difficult for residents in both states.
Missouri legislators did some stunningly destructive things, refusing to fund the Medicaid expansion that voters approved last August and approving an unconstitutional monstrosity that claims to nullify federal gun laws. Judges are already chuckling at that one, though if only we could nullify state gun laws in Kansas City, our murder rate wouldn’t be what it is.
But they also did a couple of good things, actually passing a long overdue increase in the gasoline tax to pay for needed road and bridge repair.
The tax is attached to a weird provision allowing taxpayers to get their money back. The rebate was inserted as a political dodge, so Republicans could go home and claim they didn’t really raise anyone’s taxes. That isn’t true; they needed to raise taxes, and did.
The Missouri legislature approved the so-called Wayfair tax, which will allow collection of sales taxes on some goods purchased online. We were the last state to address this competitive problem.
Other good moments? Missouri fully funded the public defender’s office at long last. It passed legislation aimed at curbing abuse in non-licensed boarding schools, a crisis revealed by The Star.
Missouri will now have a prescription drug monitoring program. Again, we’re last in the country to set up this lifesaving system, long opposed by those arguing that if we tracked how many prescriptions for painkillers a guy can have, well next the government would think it’s entitled to count your guns.
Lawmakers also passed a crime bill that addresses some concerns with police behavior, even though it preempted Kansas City’s right to determine where its police officers live.
For every wise choice, Missouri lawmakers went out of their way to pursue goofy, unconstitutional remedies to imagined problems.
The legislature dissed local governments by enacting a bill that prohibits cities from cutting police budgets under some circumstances.
It not only refused to fund Medicaid expansion but failed to pass a tax that funds regular Medicaid, leaving a $2.3 billion hole that will need filling this fall.
The arrogance astounds. Only one group of politicians can decide how you live, state legislators are telling us: the ones they see in the mirror.
Still, Missouri seems a model of legislative sagacity when compared with Kansas, which spent most of its time and your money thinking of ways to needlessly embarrass Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who faces voters next year.
It enacted new restrictions on Kelly’s powers during the pandemic, even as COVID-19 ravaged rural areas. It passed a massive tax cut for the rich.
It said 18-year-old high school students can carry concealed weapons. It refused to expand Medicaid, too. Given the chance to extend medical cannabis to those who are suffering, it said no.
It also tightened election laws, slapping fellow Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab, and election officials everywhere, across the face.
It did pass a relatively clean school funding bill, dodging a trip back to court. And not all attempts to hurt Kansans succeeded: Lawmakers failed, barely, to override a veto of unneeded legislation involving transgender athletes. Their attempt to dictate curriculum to the state’s schools also fell short.
A crime bill Kelly signed Monday removed the spousal exception for sexual battery, which should have passed years ago.
Most discouragingly, though, Kansas legislators failed to address real behavioral problems in their midst. Democratic state Rep. Aaron Coleman’s misogyny did not disqualify him from a seat. State Rep. Mark Samsel, a Republican, cast critical votes despite charges for alleged abusive behavior in a classroom.
State Sen. Gene Suellentrop faces charges for drunk driving. He, too, kept his seat.
Contrast this with Missouri House members, who investigated spousal and child abuse allegations against colleague Rick Roeber, found them credible, and kicked him out of the building. It was the right thing to do.
Missouri lawmakers can do better, and Kansas legislators can do much better.