Missing teeth
If you live in Missouri and believe you’ve been illegally discriminated against in regards to employment, housing and public accommodations, you can’t go straight to state court.
Instead, you have to bring your complaints to a state agency called the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. It’ll launch an investigation to determine whether you’ve been wronged and potentially serve as a mediator to help you reach a settlement.
At least that’s how it should work.
My colleague Jonathan Shorman reported this week that lawyers and court documents show that the Human Rights Commission is a broken agency.
There are only four members on what is supposed to be an 11-member panel, meaning the agency doesn’t have a quorum to take votes. Despite receiving more than 1,000 complaints in the 2022 budget year, the group only found probable cause for discrimination in five cases. A negotiated settlement was reached in another 11 cases.
The Human Rights Commission serves as an example of a larger problem in both state and federal government — toothless government agencies.
Many of these groups are set up with good intentions. And while they may work for a period of time, they can sometimes deteriorate.
This isn’t exactly a new problem.
In the late 1800s, as the railroad industry grew extremely powerful, Congress established the Interstate Commerce Commission to force the railroads to charge reasonable rates. But the group had no ability to enforce its rulings when they found wrongdoing.
A more recent example is the Federal Elections Commission. The group was created in the 1970s to prevent violations of campaign finance law. It was supposed to be a beacon of transparency, an agency that would create a more informed by public by providing information about how campaign money was raised and spent and would enforce spending limits.
The six-member FEC is required to have not more than three members of any political party. The members are nominated by the president and approved by the Senate. To ensure bipartisanship, four members must agree before it takes any action.
It worked for a few decades, but then Sen. Mitch McConnell accumulated more power in the Republican caucus. McConnell, the current Senate minority leader, is a staunch opponent of campaign finance regulations and, because the Senate has to approve of FEC nominees, he’s been able to place Republicans on the commission who don’t believe in the agency’s core mission. That means the commission usually deadlocks on important votes, and is unable to take action.
That has left the FEC largely ineffective as an increasing amount of money flows through campaigns — in the 2022 campaign, candidates collected $3.1 billion and spent more than $2.7 billion, according to the FEC.
In other cases, when agencies start to use their power, politicians change the rules to scale them back.
The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission is an independent agency charged with enforcing the state’s campaign finance and government ethics rules. After the commission started to investigate a prominent Republican political consultant, the Legislature moved to remove its director, Mark Skoglund.
While that effort failed, this year, the Legislature again reopened the discussion. Lawmakers proposed sweeping campaign finance legislation that would have allowed them to accept currently prohibited campaign contributions in the middle of a legislative session, while weakening the committee’s investigative powers.
Instead, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly compromised with Republican lawmakers and came up with a bill that requires the commission to go through District Court when it wants to issue subpoenas.
More from Missouri
Weeks after a federal judge struck down a state law to nullify federal gun laws, Missouri Republicans are attempting to give sweeping power to local sheriffs, including the ability to oversee federal investigations in their counties. The proposed legislation would enshrine the office of county sheriff in the state’s constitution.
Here are headlines from across the state:
After judge strikes gun law, GOP seeks to give sheriffs power over feds, Jonathan Shorman and Kacen Bayless
How a dysfunctional Missouri Human Rights Commission slows discrimination lawsuits, Jonathan Shorman
GOP’s sweeping plan to ban diversity programs sends agencies into upheaval, Kacen Bayless and Maia Bond
Former senator investigated Waco. He says conspiracy theories have grown in power, Jonathan Shorman
How Josh Hawley is capitalizing on a crisis among American men, Daniel Desrochers
And across Kansas
When Kansas colleges and high schools start up again in the fall, transgender athletes will no longer be able to compete in girl’s or women’s sports. After years of trying, the Legislature finally secured enough votes to override Kelly’s veto, adding another state to a long list that are attempting to pass anti-transgender rights legislation in the latest iteration of the political culture war. The legislation will prevent three student athletes from participating.
Kansas bans transgender athletes from women’s sports, overrides veto, Katie Bernard and Jenna Barackman
Legislature passes bill that enables parents to object to classroom assignments, Katie Bernard
Judge orders Democratic Party chair to pay money owed to former campaign manager, Jonathan Shorman
Legislature sends ‘born alive’ abortion bill to Kelly’s desk with veto-proof majority, Katie Bernard
After early failure, House passes bill to hold presidential primary in ‘24, Katie Bernard and Jonathan Shorman
The latest from Kansas City
In Kansas City …
Slow, erratic mail delivery across Kansas City angers residents, Jonathan Shorman and Daniel Desrochers
Why can you have only 2 bags of trash in Kansas City? History of ‘pay-as-you-throw’ rule, Kynala Phillips
Kansas City voters approve 7.5% tax and new fee for short-term rentals, like Airbnb, Luke Nozicka
Have a news tip? Send it along to ddesrochers@kcstar.com
Odds and ends
Tornadoes in southeast Missouri
A tornado touched down west of Cape Girardeau on Tuesday night, amid severe thunderstorms in eastern Missouri. The storms killed at least five people and killed others while causing extensive damage in the area.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson traveled to the area yesterday to inspect the damage.
“Yesterday I had the chance to walk the damage in Bollinger County myself and talk with folks who lost their homes and property,” Hawley wrote on Twitter. “These are strong men and women. Hundreds of neighbors poured into the devastation zone from surrounding farms and towns to help clear and rescue.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, said he was in contact with the White House to get help for the area and Rep. Jason Smith, a Republican who represents the area in Congress, said his office was working closely with state and local authorities.
Amelia Earhart Museum
Next Friday at noon is the grand opening of the Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum in Atchison, Kansas.
The museum is built around Muriel, a plane that is named after Earhart’s younger sister and is identical to the plane she used to fly around the world. It’s the last remaining Lockheed Electra 10-E aircraft in the world, according to the museum.
There will also be several exhibits, including a full scale replica of Muriel’s cockpit and a virtual reality recreation of Earhart’s transatlantic flight in 1932.
At the front of the museum is the twin statue to the one of Earhart that was recently installed in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. Even though it was installed last year, it isn’t the newest statue in the Capitol — that title goes to the statue of former President Harry Truman, which was unveiled in September.
The museum is asking visitors to RSVP for the event. Pilots are even allowed to fly directly to the museum.
Happy Friday
Read this ProPublica investigation into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ luxury travel. I once tried to make this recipe for hot cross buns and failed miserably. A new Boy Genius album came out last week.
Enjoy your weekend.
Looking for more?
Think this newsletter is missing something? Think I’m fabulous? Think I’m a moron? Send your reactions to ddesrochers@kcstar.com.
For more politics news, follow @Kacen, @KatieJ_Bernard, @drdesrochers and @jonshorman.
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