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WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 02/12/2024

Olivia Pener • Feb 12, 2024

The Mood at the Capitol

If you thought this week was going to be any different in the Missouri General Assembly, I am sorry to disappoint you. The Senate has spent another week in interpersonal negotiations and jockeying for position. The goals of the leadership of the Senate are very clear, they intend to do the necessary business of the people. Senator Caleb Rowden and Senator Cindy O’Laughlin are very focused on the Federal Reimbursement Act Authorization (FRA) before they do any other business. Rather than tackling the FRA directly at first, they are trying to offer an olive branch by first passing statutory language to prevent any State money from going to Planned Parenthood. The bill is being carried by Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman, and is one of her long-term priorities. There is a rumor that Missouri Right to Life thinks the language in Senator Coleman's bill does not go far enough and is asking for amendments. The bill is currently the order of business that is before the Senate, with a point of order still pending. This means that when the Senate reconvenes on Monday, they will have to first deal with the point order. Before they can move on to other topics or finish the work on that bill. Once the bill dealing with my parenthood funding is completed one way or another, the plan is to go directly to the FRA.

The House on the other hand, continues to work through legislation, although at a slower pace than they started. They are getting ready to load up the House Floor Calendar. With a variety of legislation that was recently voted out of Committees, the House has plenty of flexibility to work on issues that they think are important to pass or that will make political points. We are still hearing not much legislation is likely to make it to the Governor. The House budget process has been quietly working in the background, and should start picking up steam and committee hours in the next couple of weeks. The mood in the capital among long-time observers and Senior Legislators is one of frustration. Most people when asked what will actually get passed this year shrug.

Discrimination in Higher education

The House Special Committee on Government Accountability heard HB 1518 by Rep. Brad Hudson which claims to prohibit colleges and universities from “discriminating” against student organizations based upon their belief systems. In actuality, this bill allows for hate speech and hateful conduct to be protected and spread on campuses. There was quite a bit of debate during this hearing both in support of and against the bill. Representative Stephanie Hein (D) actually pointed out some major issues surrounding the bill which brought about some pushback even from the Republicans on the committee. It is clear that this bill is still more contentious than we’re sure the sponsor had intended. The bill is scheduled to be voted out of committee this coming Monday. We will be monitoring the hearing to watch for any amendments.

diversity, equity, and inclusion

Last year, a hot button issue for certain members of the Republican Party was the use of DEI in anything funded by the state. This year appears to be no different. On Tuesday at 2:00pm the House General Laws Committee will be hearing 4 separate anti-DEI bills that are essentially the same. Three of these bills are sponsored by the usual suspects of this type of legislation (Reps. Ben Baker, Doug Richey, and Brad Hudson). The fourth sponsor is Rep. Cody Smith who also happens to be the chair of the House Budget committee, meaning he has quite a bit of influence in the MO House. He also supported an amendment last year that did precisely what these bills aim to do, although the amendment was defeated on the House floor. The scope of these bills is to prohibit state departments from spending money on any initiatives that they consider to be DEI, although the definitions they use in the bills is misleading. Please coordinate with Shira or Robert if you’d like to come testify in person. If you are unable to testify in person, you may submit testimony online up until Midnight on Tuesday, 2/13.

comprehensive corrections bill

Several provisions that would affect the lives of incarcerated people were combined into a single bill, HB1777. The bill is being carried by Rep Chad Perkins who is dedicated to making the criminal courts more fair and the corrections centers more humane. The bill now contains the following provisions:

Repeals Provisions That Ban People Convicted of a Drug Crime from Receiving SNAP Benefits
Prohibits Restraints on Juveniles in the Courtroom in Most Circumstances
Requires DOC to Provide Identification Documents and Interview Skills Training to Inmates Upon Release
Prohibits Restraints on Women in the Third Trimester of Pregnancy in Most Circumstances
Increases Care Requirements for All Incarcerated Pregnant Women
Raises the Age for Protected Testimony and Adds Vulnerable Person to the List of People Whose Testimony is Treated Differently
Good Time Credit Language (still needs some work)

This bill will now go to another committee for an additional vote before going to the full House. It will then need to start the process in the Senate where chaos is still the order of the day.

voting rights issues

Voting Rights Restoration

We had a fantastic hearing in Senate Elections discussing SB 1199. The bill is continuing to have bi-partisan support and is already scheduled for a vote out of committee this coming Monday, Feb. 12th at 2:00pm. We will be in attendance to ensure that it passes out clean. The House version (HB 1927) is seemingly stalled out in House Judiciary for personal reasons, but Rep. Stinnett has begun shopping the language around to try to get it included on another bill that is likely to pass. We will keep you updated on the situation as it progresses.

IP Restrictions

The chaos of the Senate has been to our benefit as any changes to the Initiative Petition process in the Senate has been held up by discussion about defunding planned parenthood and trying to pass a clean FRA. The House, meanwhile continues to chug along and will be voting out some of their versions of IP Restrictions including concurrent congressional districts (HJR 72), concurrent state senatorial districts (HJR 86), the vetting by general assembly bill (including an increase to 55% threshold to passage - HJR 119), and increasing the amount of signatures required to put a initiative on the ballot (HJR 67). We will monitor this hearing for any amendments and will continue to oppose them as they make their way to the House floor.

upcoming hearings

No Hearings Scheduled at this Time

calls to action

Attend Missouri Day of Empathy - Support Criminal Justice Reform on March 6th
https://www.mobilize.us/dream/event/598957/
Attend Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty Lobby Day - Support Proposals to Reduce and Eliminate State Murder on March 12th
Training - bit.ly/MADPTraining2024
Lobby day - bit.ly/MADPLobbyDay2024
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.

Tracking List

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.

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