Missouri Sets Records This Summer With Heatwave

In case you haven’t had time to step outside in the past three months, Missouri is setting records this summer with historic high temperatures. It’s hot – and August is probably just going to be worse.

Climate change has increased the average temperatures in Missouri, leading to more extreme and frequent severe weather events like droughts, tornadoes and floods.

Farmers Bear The Brunt Of Climate Change

This month, more than 94% of the state is experiencing drought conditions, which stunt plant growth and delay planting. Farmers across the state are feeling the effects.

“With hay production down, that cuts into my income,” said Mark Nash, a farmer in Strafford who raises cattle and wraps hay to cover equipment costs. “We’ve had a few timely rains, but some of the hay we’ve wrapped has been high in nitrates, so we may not be able to salvage it as feed. And this isn’t covered by the crop insurance programs.”

… But The Rest Of Us Will Feel The Economic Effects

Missouri farmers bring in nearly $100 billion in revenue every year. They feed families in Missouri and around America – Missouri is the third largest cattle producer in the country. And Missouri farms employ nearly half a million Missourians. Our farmers make us strong, and we need to do everything we can to keep them afloat.

What Are Politicians Doing About It?

Climate change affects all of us – threatening our safety, our livelihoods, and our fun summer plans. So what are politicians doing about it?

Missouri politicians have fought tooth and nail to not address climate change. They’ve sued the Environmental Protection Agency, blocked the state from investing in green energy and prevented cities from taking action on climate change.

Stand With Missouri Farmers – Tell Your Representatives To Fight Climate Change

Farmers don’t want to abandon their livelihoods – they want to be part of the solution to climate change so Missouri can continue to thrive for years to come.

Stand with Missouri farmers – sign our petition and tell your representatives to fight climate change!

On Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court will hear arguments in the Attorney General’s case concerning his illegal power grab for the initiative petition process.

Ahead of the hearing, more than 20 Missouri lawyers have signed the open letter below, calling on Attorney General Andrew Bailey to follow the law or step down:

Open Letter: When the state’s top legal officer can’t follow the law

We the undersigned members of the Missouri legal community are writing to express our shock and deep dismay that our state’s highest legal officer has repeatedly shown a willingness to distort and obfuscate Missouri law.

Most recently, Attorney General Andrew Bailey blocked the advancement of initiative petitions based on cost estimates he personally disputed from Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick, resulting in “a failure to perform [his] ministerial duty,” Circuit Judge Jon Beetem wrote.

Beetem ordered the attorney general to certify the fiscal note within the 24 hours, which he brazenly ignored. As the judge wrote in his 20-page opinion on the matter, Bailey “has no authority to substitute his own judgment for that of the Auditor regarding the estimated cost of a proposed measure,” Beetem wrote in his ruling. Bailey’s actions put Fitzpatrick in an “untenable and absurd position,” the judge said.

In addition, Bailey attempted to take advantage of a consumer protection loophole to impose a rule severely limiting health care for transgender youth – suspended by an injunction from the courts and later withdrawn.

In her ruling issuing a temporary restraining order blocking the rule, Circuit Court Judge Ellen Ribaudo expressed concerns with Bailey’s bending of Missouri law to unilaterally block health care access to minors. “This is a novel use of the attorney general’s power to promulgate emergency rules under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act that has never previously been subjected to judicial scrutiny and may impermissibly invade a function reserved to the legislature,” she wrote.

Both of these actions give us grave concerns about Bailey’s fitness to hold office as he has shown disregard for the courts and the rule of law. Based on the lack of respect he has shown for our state’s laws and courts, he should step down immediately.

Signed,

Brad Bakker
Richard Brickson
Brendan J. Donelon
Sheila Greenbaum
Gerald P. Greiman
Zachary L. Hammerman
Luz Maria Henriquez
Greg Magarian
John S. Meyer
Kimberly Norwood
Phillip J. Paster
Anthony Pepe
Joseph B. Pereles
Shayn Prapaisilp
Wendi Alper-Pressman
Norman Pressman
William B. Remis
Albert S. Rose
Dana Sandweiss
Mary Anne Sedey
Gary M. Siegel
Miriam Singer
Leonard D. Vines

This past week, Missouri Governor Mike Parson kicked off LGBTQ Pride Month by signing two pieces of legislation attacking some of the most vulnerable kids in the state. 

As of Wednesday, trans kids in Missouri are banned from playing on the sports’ teams of their choosing and cannot seek out life-saving medical care. These laws only add fuel to a deadly fire: according to The Trevor Project, LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers. And more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth have considered suicide in the past year. These laws are nothing more than a blatant attempt to prevent trans kids from living long, happy lives.

Earlier this year, Missouri gained national attention for leading the country in anti-LGBTQ legislation. The hateful environment across the state has forced many Missourians to move states out of fear.

Anti-LGBTQ laws are fanning the flames of hate across the state. LGBTQ librarians feel less accepted at work because of book bans. Security guards at Branson’s Silver Dollar City amusement park won’t let people wear rainbows into the park.

Missourians, and especially Missouri kids, have the right to feel safe in their communities. Our elected officials should not be prioritizing laws that spread hate, fear and bullying throughout our state.

To support Missouri’s LGBTQ community, get involved with PROMO here.

In case you missed it, on Monday, Missouri’s own Kansas City Chiefs appeared at the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl win. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas came out to support the team, as did former Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill. Even some Kansas electeds came out to join the party.

Notable absences included Senator Josh Hawley, who recently fumbled when he named a Kansas barbecue restaurant as his favorite in Missouri. 🤦 

And this isn’t the first time he’s had to play defense on his Missouri football knowledge. In 2018, he wore KU colors to a Mizzou tailgate.

But hey, Hawley’s home state of Virginia doesn’t have an NFL team. Josh: if you can point to Missouri on this map, we’ll let you join Chiefs Kingdom!

Last Tuesday, Senator Josh Hawley released his long-awaited, often-mocked book, Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs. In the interest of holding our elected officials accountable, we gave it a read.

Our five word review: out of touch, sad, and boring. Keep reading to hear some of the highlights.

Out Of Touch

Early reviews have mostly focused on Hawley’s backwards political beliefs. The guy’s definitely stuck in the past, and his book has a few pages that prove it.

But what we found more intriguing was Hawley’s views on the modern man. For a guy who supposedly espouses masculinity, Josh Hawley is extremely critical of men.

Hawley mentions a few issues that we can agree on: men aren’t making as much money as their fathers, and the well-paying blue-collar jobs Americans used to count on can’t provide for a family anymore. His answers, though, are not based in reality.

Hawley says men aren’t doing well because they aren’t trying hard enough. He points at men and young boys’ falling behind in education as a symptom of “not trying.” He claims that 75% of men who don’t have jobs, simply do not want them because they are “content to be dependent” on their families and the government. He says American men spend too much time on “leisure,” and not enough working. Basically, if you’re not doing well in life, it’s your fault, and your fault alone.

That’s rich coming from a Senator who backed laws to weaken labor unions, voted against paid family leave, and received failing grades from prominent labor and education advocacy groups for his votes against working people and public school students.

Sad

By this point, we were thinking: “surely someone this obsessed with manhood has something deeper going on.” And we were right. Whenever Hawley delved too deeply into his personal life, it got pretty depressing.

Hawley is really proud of his role as a father. He has an entire chapter of his book dedicated to the importance of being a good dad. If you only read this chapter, you might be shocked to learn Hawley has three children, not two. In the entirety of the fatherhood chapter, Hawley does not mention his daughter, though he does mention his two sons. His biblical references repeat the importance of being a father to sons. Hawley doesn’t explicitly mention his daughter until the last chapter of the book, where in passing he refers to her as the only girl and therefore, the center of attention. Ick.

Boring

About two-thirds of this book is a lecture covering the Bible and Epicurean philosophy. Unfortunately, Hawley lacks the charisma of your favorite pastor. Instead, he ends up coming across more like the obnoxious pre-law guy your roommate dated in college. Bla bla bla bla bla.

And if you think this is a symptom of it being in book form, the audiobook (read by Hawley himself) is just as mind-numbing. Probably because the guy reading it is basically a cardboard cut-out in a button-down and khakis.

The Bottom Line

As much as Hawley’s hypocritical masculinity takes are out of touch, sad, and boring, they also have a real effect on Missouri’s men.

A senator who doesn’t respect his own constituents cannot serve their best interests, especially when he thinks their very real problems are a result of laziness or a lack of initiative.

If Hawley loves masculinity and cares about Missouri men, he should vote for solutions that help all of us.

Last Friday, Missouri’s legislature adjourned for the final time in 2023. After weeks of back and forth, here’s what won — and lost — in 2023.

🏆 The Winners🏆

1. Majority Rule

One of the biggest victories of 2023 came not from what did pass, but from what didn’t.

This year, politicians came into session with an agenda: taking away your power and putting it back in their own hands.

But when they banged the gavel on Friday evening, they hadn’t passed a single bill to restrict the initiative petition process and end majority rule. Democracy lives to see another day in Missouri.

2. The Women’s Jacket Industry

Remember way back in the first week of session when House Republicans made it their first priority to make women wear jackets? That was the beginning of the end for these lawmakers, who never really ended up getting their priorities straight.

3. New Moms

In a rare showing of bipartisanship, the Missouri Senate came together to expand postpartum Medicaid, allowing new moms access to healthcare for up to a year after they give birth. 

Missouri started session as the worst state in the country for maternal mortality rates. This is a small step in the right direction.

😔 The Losers 😔

1. LGBTQ Kids

Extremists in Jeff City, including Governor Parson, made it a top priority this session to bully school children. After proposing the most anti-LGBTQ legislation in the country, Missouri settled on bans against trans children competing in school sports and bans on trans children receiving life-saving healthcare.

2. Schools and Teachers

While politicians debated culture war issues, bills to increase teacher pay, fully fund schools, and mandate five-day school weeks fell by the wayside.

Missouri has the lowest public school teacher pay in the nation. Public schools can’t stay open full time. Our legislature owes it to our kids to give them the best education possible.

3. The Republican Party’s Sense of Direction

Republican electeds in Missouri cannot seem to get it together.

As session came to a close, the main story wasn’t all the potential laws (good or bad) getting passed to Governor Parson. It was the in-fighting preventing anything from getting done. In fact, the House and Senate passed the fewest bills this session than in 30 years, barring the shortened 2020 session.

In a world where lawmakers don’t have the right priorities, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. But if Missourians want electeds who get things done for working families, we wouldn’t recommend reelecting the failing Republican legislators.

To read more about what happened under the dome this year, check out these posts:

We’re Halfway Through Session – Here’s What Jeff City Politicians Have Done (And What They Have Not)

It’s International Women’s Day: What Are Missouri Politicians Doing For Women?

Behind The National Right-Wing Conspiracy To Bully Missouri’s Trans Kids

Only days before the Missouri State legislature left Jefferson City for Spring Break, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft left the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), an interstate group that works to prevent voter fraud.

ERIC helps states maintain accurate voter rolls by keeping people who can no longer vote off state’s voter list. It also prosecutes people who vote in multiple states.

But Ashcroft seems to believe baseless conspiracy theories peddled by extremists who believe that Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Other state leaders who have pulled their states out of ERIC have alleged that the organization is funded by George Soros (it isn’t) and shares data with “liberal groups” (it doesn’t). 

Ashcroft’s issue with the organization? They help register people to vote.

Ashcroft withdrew Missouri from ERIC – making our elections less secure — all because he wants fewer people to have access to the ballot box.

Why would an elected official want fewer people to vote?

And to make matters worse, Ashcroft – whose job is to help run Missouri elections – has come up with no solution for ERIC, in the short-term or the long-term. This makes our elections less secure, with some experts saying it will make double voting more likely in Missouri.

Ashcroft’s job is to secure Missouri elections. He should prove he knows how to do that before he eyes the Governor’s mansion.

Posted March 17, 2023