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WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE 01/15/2024

Jan 15, 2024

The Mood at the Capitol

This week was the first full week of the legislative session and the ball has started rolling much faster than anticipated. There was still plenty of grandstanding to be had however. In both chambers you will find that members are using their time to speak as an opportunity to campaign for their next office. This is something we will be seeing all throughout this legislative session.

Both chambers have been second reading and referring bills to their respective committees so the work has actually begun. Inclimate weather has impacted the legislature so there hasn’t been too much work this past week, as everything is being pushed to this upcoming week. There are a lot of committee hearings coming up in the next few weeks so please keep an eye on the action alerts.

So far there have been over 1,500 bills introduced. Topics range from the now too familiar culture wars issues to basic good governance such as making sure schools are able to spend down Federal money to help with safety improvements. Here are some of the major issues that will be coming up this week for voting rights.

discrimination and cultural competency in education

Earlier in the week we heard HB 1989 by Representative Brad Pollit, the chair of the House Elementary and Secondary Education committee. The topic was about school choice and HB 1989 was intended to be a compromise between the pro-voucher groups and the public schools. However, during the testimony, the bill sponsor explained that there were going to be changes. The most consequential change would be the

removal of protections for minority students and a cap on minority student transfers. While originally we had planned to remain somewhat neutral on the bill, perhaps amending the bill slightly, if these removals take place we will stand in full opposition to HB 1989.

On the same day when we heard HB 1989 in the House Ed Committee, we also heard SB 729 and SB 727 in the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee. SB 729, sponsored by Senator Andrew Koenig, would allow for parents who pay for private tuition to apply for a tax credit to be reimbursed for said tuition. This is a plan that only benefits the wealthiest parents and will harm smaller schools and students in low-income neighborhoods. SB 727, which was also sponsored by Sen. Koenig pertains to the ESA program. It contains a provision that would exempt homeschool parents from having to go through background checks. This could potentially place children into very harmful situations. We are in opposition to both of these Senate bills.

More hearings are expected on Wednesday of this week. If you want to testify against this type of legislation this week, please contact Sharon Geuea Jones at sharon@jonesadvocacy.com.

voting rights issues

This coming Tuesday, 1/16, at noon the House Elections and Elected Officials Committee will be hearing HB 2140, sponsored by Representative Peggy McGaugh who is the chair of the committee. This is the big election worker protection bill that we are supportive of. It makes tampering with an election official a class one election offense. This is one of our biggest proactive pieces of legislation that has been shown to have

bi-partisan support. There are other provisions in this bill that we are mostly neutral on or supportive of, such as the changing of candidate filing dates (similar to what has heard this last week), absentee voting for new state residents, keeping lists of voters with permanent disabilities private, expansion of provisional ballots, and protections against electioneering activities for absentee voting. The key components of this bill are the election worker protections. We are encouraging those who cannot testify in person to send written testimony in favor of this legislation. Denise will be coming down to testify in person on behalf of MOVPC.

criminal justice issues

Informant Transparency

Interest is growing in the informant transparency bill. There is some disagreement between the various parties supporting the legislation on exactly what the final language will look like. Jones Advocacy Group is gathering the various proposals from supportive groups and will facilitate a discussion between those groups and the prosecutors association. The bottom line is, if anything is going to happen with this issue, it will be after an attempt to satisfy at least some of the concerns from the prosecutors.

Good Time and Earned Time Credit

While there is wide support for expanding and standardizing the kinds of credits an incarcerated person can earn off their sentence, the current language has some significant issues. These issues are easily addressed and Jones Advocacy Group is working with a variety of people who understand how DOC programs work to make sure the credits are feasible and will provide a benefit to most incarcerated people. This includes

making sure good time credits are not dependent on participating in programs and that the credits earned reflect the nature of the program. For example, that a full bachelors degree program isn’t rewarded with just 60 days off a sentence. We will keep you updated as we get closer to the language moving forward.

upcoming hearings

01/17/2024 8:15 AM Senate-Transportation, Infrastructure, and Public Safety Committee

SB808 Creates a series of mandates for St. Louis City Police Department operations — Sen. Nick Schroer (R)

01/17/2024 12:00 PM House-Special Committee on Small Business Committee

HB2062 Prohibits moratoriums on eviction proceedings — Rep. Chris Brown (R)

01/17/2024 1:00 PM Senate-Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee

SB746 Authorizes life without parole for juvenile defendants — Sen. Mike Bernskoetter (R)
SB754 Increases penalties for harm to law enforcement animals — Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer (R)
SB760 Modifies provisions relating to the critical incident stress management program — Sen. Karla May (D)
SB788 Blair’s Law — Sen. Greg Razer (D)

01/17/2024 1:00 PM Senate-Education and Workforce Development Committee

SB728 Parent’s Bill of Rights — Sen. Andrew Koenig (R)

01/18/2024 8:00 AM House-Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee

HB1659 Modifies provisions relating to criminal laws — Rep. Lane Roberts (R)

calls to action

Attend the MOVPC Lobby Day on Jan 30th 9am - 2pm https://www.movpc.org/movpc-latest-news
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.

Save the Dates! Come to the Capitol to Support Our Legislative Issues

January 30 - MOVPC Lobby Day - Support Free and Fair Elections
February 6 - MO Education Equity Partnership Lobby Day - Oppose Efforts to Ban Black History Curriculum
March 6 - Day of Empathy - Support Criminal Justice Reform
March 12 - MO to Abolish the Death Penalty Lobby Day - Support Proposals to Reduce and Eliminate State Murder

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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