The Mood at the Capitol

HB 1518 (Hudson) has not moved since our last report. As of the time of writing this report the bill has not been referred to committee yet. Please keep an eye out for any alerts from Robert or Shira regarding a committee hearing on this bill, as you will be informed as soon as we know. Now would be a good time to contact your Senator and let them know to oppose this bill.

SJR 74 (Coleman) was heard in the House Elections Committee this past Tuesday afternoon. It was quite a long hearing with a completely packed room and over 800 pieces of testimony submitted online, with 97% in opposition. We would like to thank everyone who came down and testified and those who submitted testimony online. During the hearing, Senator Coleman asked the House committee to reintroduce the “ballot candy” language that was removed during the 21 hour Senate filibuster prior. When asked if bringing back this language would result in another filibuster when it goes back to the Senate, Senator Coleman discussed using the “PQ” or previous question which is designed to shut down debate and force a vote on the bill. It is considered in extremely poor taste to discuss this prior to the debate and even more so to discuss this with the lower chamber (meaning the House). The following day, the Senate Democrats led by Minority Floor Leader JJ Rizzo began a filibuster to grind all Senate business to a halt in retaliation for the attack against them. The Democrats spent several hours discussing why what Senator Coleman said was in bad taste and showed the Senate that they will not simply give up on their position. It was a sign that the dysfunction in the Senate still remains even as we head into the weeklong break. 

On Tuesday, March 26th at Noon in the House Elections and Elected Officials Committee will be hearing two identical bills to reinstate the Presidential Preference Primary. HB 1525 by Rep. Cyndi Buchheit-Courtway and HB 2895 by Rep. Kurtis Gregory both reinstate the Presidential Preference Primary and will likely be heard together. We will once again be testifying to show our support to reinstate this process. We are encouraging anyone who can come down to the Capitol to do so and testify in person at the hearing. If you are not able to travel on Tuesday, you are able to submit testimony online. 

On Monday, March 3/25 at 2:00pm in the Senate Elections and Local Government Committee will be hearing HB 1749 by Representative Mike Haffner. Among other provisions in this bill, it would restrict petition circulators by requiring them to be Missouri residents and prohibiting paying signature gatherers based on the number of signatures gathered. This is yet another attempt to make it harder for people to utilize the initiative petition process. We will be testifying against this bill and we are encouraging everyone to come and testify in person as the Senate does not accept any online testimony. We are all encouraging everyone to contact their Senator and ask them to oppose this bill. 

The comprehensive crime bills, HB1659 and SB754, are still slowly moving through the process. The bills both attempt to re-pass provisions from last year’s vetoed comprehensive crime bill, SB189 (2023). The bills are slightly different, but both contain more good than bad provisions. HB1659 has been referred to Senate Judiciary and is likely to have a hearing before April 1. SB754 has been sent to the House and will also likely have a hearing soon. The team at JAG is putting together a spreadsheet showing the different provisions of these bills as well as the corrections bills. It will be available at the link below as it is being created.

The comprehensive corrections bill, HB1777, was brought up and Perfected last week. This means the bill was amended and voted on by the full House. Unfortunately, a very bad provision that changes the way minimum sentences are calculated was added to the bill. The language, amended by Representative Barry Hovis, would include convictions that did not result in terms of imprisonment in the calculation for the percentage of a sentence that must be served before being eligible for release. Currently, only prior convictions that resulted in imprisonment are counted when determining this percentage. In addition to issues of justice and over-incarceration, the current overcrowding situation in Missouri is leading to hundreds of unnecessary deaths and violence. 

This bill is also the vehicle for several good provisions including the corrected Good Time Credit language. The bill needs one more vote in the House before it will be sent to the Senate to go through the committee and amendment process there. We will try to get the bad provision removed on the Senate side, but may have to let the entire bill fail because of the effect of the one provision.

In the good news category, two bills, HB2108 and HB2555, that would clear past criminal records are scheduled for hearings next week. These bills both include automatic expungement for a variety of offenses. There are slight differences between the two, but both are an improvement over the current expungement system in Missouri. We are asking everyone to submit written testimony at the links below. Several groups are also going to appear in person with impacted individuals to show the importance of not allowing past mistakes to prevent a person from moving forward in their life.

Another great bill is also getting a hearing this week. This bill requires any death penalty sentence in Missouri to be handed down by a unanimous jury. Currently, if a jury is unable to come to a unanimous decision, the judge is able to issue a sentence of either life without parole or death. This is not the original intent of the statute, but a decades worth of court decisions has resulted in this interpretation. We are pleased to finally be getting a hearing on this clarifying language. Of the 10 people who are currently eligible for execution in Missouri, two were sentenced by a judge instead of a jury. While this change won’t prevent any additional death sentences from being handed down, it will prevent a single individual from making the decision to order a state-sanctioned murder. Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty (MADP) is organizing testimony on the bill both in-person and written online. If you would like to testify, the link is posted at the end of this report. 

• No Public Hearings This Week Because of Spring Break

03/26/2024 2:00 PM House-General Laws Committee

• HB2108 Establishes provisions relating to expungement
  Rep. Phil Christofanelli (R)
• HB2555 Establishes provisions relating to expungement
  Rep. Justin Hicks (R)
• HB2468 Modifies provisions relating to trial procedures for murder in the first degree
  Rep. Bishop Davidson (R)
  

• Attend the MADP Lobby Day on March 12th
• Lobby day- bit.ly/MADPLobbyDay2024
• Please send stories of unacceptable conditions inside of correctional facilities.
• Let Olivia Pener or Sandy Jiles know if there is a week between now and May 17th you are willing to be on call to come to the Capitol on short notice.
• If you have any questions about any of the legislation mentioned here or the legislative program generally, please contact President Chapel or Olivia Pener.

https://govwatch.net/report/M6q8o0GrzR

*This list is continually updated and improved. If you have questions, please contact Sharon Geuea Jones at sharon@jonesadvocacy.com.