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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2024
Contact: liz@progressmo.org

Effort to chronicle politicians’ statements and actions that stand in contrast to their speeches

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – This morning, Progress MO, a multi-issue progressive advocacy organization that combines cutting edge online organizing and communications with rapid and hard-hitting earned media strategies, announced the launch of a new project aimed at holding the state’s politicians accountable.

The Missouri Freedom Project, an effort to educate Missouri’s citizens about the statements and actions that some politicians have made and to which the general public might not know about. The project will be regularly updated with new information and maintained with up-to-date research on specific legislators as new information is made available.

“All too often, politicians use the word ‘Freedom’ as a tagline in their speeches, or as a concept in their slick, well produced ads, but then you look at their record and realize they cast votes or take stances that actually take AWAY the freedoms of hardworking Missourians who are just trying to keep their head down and provide for their families,” said Liz McCune, Executive Director of Progress MO. “I think every Missourian, regardless of their party affiliation, should be concerned when a politician uses the word freedom out of one side of the mouth and then casts votes against our freedoms with the other. This is an effort to give all Missourians an opportunity to educate themselves around the REAL record these politicians have.”

The Missouri Freedom Project is a collaboration between Progress MO, a multi-issue progressive action organization and Preserve, Protect and Defend, a 501(c)4 that advocates for mainstream solutions that defend patriotic values. The Missouri Freedom Project will educate folks across the state about their elected officials and give them the information they need to decide for themselves which ones believe in freedom, democracy and the bedrock values that our country is founded on, and which ones use words like “freedom” as a talking point. The Missouri Freedom Project will be regularly updated with new information on legislators as it is made available.

For more information about the Missouri Freedom Project, please reach out to Liz McCune at liz@progressmo.org.

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Welcome back to Under the Dome, your weekly update on the goings-on of the Missouri state legislature.

Missourians unite to improve future when politicians refuse to solve real-world problems

In a legislative session marked by callous proposals to criminalize teachers who support their students, expand child labor and protect multi-billion corporations, Jefferson City got a breath of fresh air this week. 

Hundreds of regular Missourians descended on the state capitol to engage in a right that has been guaranteed in the Show Me State for more than 100 years: they utilized the initiative petition process to put important issues before voters.

Friday morning, folks supporting the campaign to restore abortion rights in the state turned in a monumental 380,000-plus signatures to the secretary of state’s office. 

“Today, we turned in boxes filled with hopes and dreams of bodily autonomy. Our message is simple and clear: we want to make decisions about our bodies free from political interference,” said Tori Schafer, attorney for the ACLU and spokeswoman for Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, in a statement to the St. Louis Post Dispatch. 

It was the third time this week voters seized power from lawmakers and took their rights in their own hands to push for change in the state – first with the measure to guarantee workers paid sick days and a higher minimum wage, and second with a ballot initiative to allow sports betting.

Missourians for Healthy Families and Fair Wages collected over 210,000 signatures by over 1,000 volunteers on the initiative petition to provide paid sick days and increase Missouri’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Missourians shared their stories at Wednesday’s turn-in at the secretary of state office in Jefferson City, from moms who want to take care of their kids to a restaurant worker who worried about spreading illness to customers.

“It is a constant stress, a constant anxiety,” food-service worker Alejandro Gallardo said during the rally. “People come into work sick all the time because they have no choice.”

As Missourians voiced their support for improving lives, politicians are pushing to silence them. With just weeks left in the legislative session, the Missouri Senate is considering SJR74, which would increase the already-heavy burden on citizens and dismantle majority rule.

“If your friends and neighbors vote a way that you don’t agree, you need to work to change their hearts and minds and not cut out the needs from democracy from under them,” said Crystal Buffaloe, a librarian from Columbia who helped collect signatures for the minimum wage petition.

While Missourians mobilize to have their voices heard, politicians continue to work actively against them.

However, this week Jefferson City got to see something that’s been missing for too long. The Capitol City got to see what democracy looks like.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2024
Contact: liz@progressmo.org

Hawley fails to man up and bring solutions to the table, use his power to make the state better

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – After nearly six years of representing Missourians in the United States Senate, Josh Hawley continues to ignore the needs and concerns of most Missouri families. Hawley’s biggest concern? Himself and how he looks.

Hawley regularly takes to Twitter to complain about the status of America’s crumbling infrastructure; however, on numerous occasions he has cast votes against funding projects to fix our roads and bridges. He even went so far as to refuse to request funds for Missouri-based projects.

So why does he bring up infrastructure? Because most Missourians want our roads and bridges fixed, and it’s easier for him to point out a problem than to accept blame for its existence.

“Senator Hawley only cares about Missourians and the things that impact us most when it will benefit him politically,” said Bill Thompson, of Stand Up KC and the Missouri Workers Center. “For years he has disparaged unions and called for a fight against public sector labor unions. But when most of the country stood alongside actors, writers, auto workers, and baristas, Hawley suddenly changed his tune.”

“Hawley has perfected the artform of flipping on an issue to gain publicity and maybe even a few votes,” says Liz McCune, Executive Director of Progress MO. “He constantly says one thing to Missourians and then goes back to his mansion in DC to do another. Missourians don’t need a leader who just jumps on bandwagons. We need a leader who will listen to what we say and stand up for us in Washington.”

Sen. Josh Hawley has raised his fist in support of many things in the past. It’s clear, the only thing Missourians can really trust Hawley to support is himself.

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Welcome back to Under the Dome, your weekly update on the goings-on of the Missouri state legislature.

Jefferson City politicians get busy kowtowing to GOP fringe group

With just weeks left in the legislative session and hardly anything to show for it, the week Under the Dome began with a threat from the ultra-right “Freedom” Caucus: Pass our priorities, or we will block everything.

Rank-and-file GOP members seemed to fall right in line, passing measures that that will hurt everyday Missourians by taking away health care options and stripping away voter’s rights.

“An act of petty vengeance” that hurts most vulnerable

On Wednesday, the Missouri House sent Gov. Mike Parson a bill that would make Missouri the fourth state to ban Medicaid reimbursements. The bill ends Medicaid reimbursements to any health centers affiliated with abortion providers.

Supporters bulled their way through opposition even though it’s clear that the state’s health care safety net cannot support the thousands of Medicaid patients who would be displaced from Planned Parenthood for procedures like contraceptive care, STI testing, cancer screenings and wellness checks. 

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat running for governor, called the legislation “an act of petty vengeance” that will have a “devastating impact on women.”

Undermining the will of the people, destroying majority rule

And on Thursday, the Missouri House advanced a measure we’ve been watching closely – SJR74, the joint resolution that would strip Missourians of their rights and put more power into the pockets of politicians.

The bill, which now moves to the Senate, would end majority rule in Missouri, potentially requiring more than 70% of a statewide vote for any constitutional amendment to pass. The House shamefully added so-called ballot candy to SJR74, a move meant to trick voters.

The version the House passed prioritizes measures such as not allowing non-U.S. citizens to vote and forbidding foreign countries from funding amendments, which are both already federal law. It buries the actual measure that would eradicate the simple majority vote requirement to amend the Missouri Constitution.

As Marilyn McLeod, president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri, told KOMU-TV, “If this passes, it really will be taking away people’s right to express their concerns to the legislature, and the only reason people resort to the initiative petition process is because they feel their voice isn’t being heard.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Contact: liz@progressmo.org

Politicians scheme to trick voters into giving away rights, end 100 years of majority rule

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri House today moved forward with a measure designed to strip Missourians of their rights. SJR74, as currently constructed, would end majority rule in Missouri, potentially requiring more than 70% of a statewide vote for any constitutional amendment to pass. The House shamefully added so-called ballot candy to SJR74, a move meant to trick voters. 

The initiative petition process has been used in the past to both broaden Missourians’ rights, such as expanding Medicaid access, and keep legislators in check through lobbying reforms and term limits.

Missourians across the state decried the House’s passage of the joint resolution, which must now go to the Senate.

“The initiative petition process seems to be the only way for us to have our voices heard,” said Jane Holland, a retiree from Columbia. “The current efforts to change the rules would be a step backwards. Our current legislators constantly vote for things that most of us Missourians do not want.”

Getta Hall of Kansas City agreed.

“The initiative petition process must be maintained as is and is an important check to partisan politics,” Hall said. “The IP process that already exists requires a high threshold of signatures and has served us well. Medicaid expansion was an issue Missouri legislators failed to pass. It went to the ballot per the initiative petition process and has been a Godsend pre- and post-COVID to Missourians caught in the gap specifically, and to all of us indirectly.”

The House voted to add items to the Senate version of SJR74, including a requirement that those who vote in Missouri elections be U.S. citizens and a clause that foreign governments cannot fund ballot initiative efforts. BOTH OF THESE ARE ALREADY REQUIRED UNDER MISSOURI LAW.

“The ballot candy is designed to hide the true impact of the measure and gain support from voters who don’t know that several items in the ballot summary are already required by law,” said Marilyn McLeod, president of the League of Women Voters of Missouri. “The initiative process is an important part of democracy in Missouri and the suggested changes would squelch the voice of the people, overturning the sacred principle of ‘one person, one vote’.”

Since the beginning of the year, thousands of Missourians voiced their opposition to attacks on the initiative petition process, many pointing out that the process already in place gives Missourians the power to make direct decisions about policies that impact them and their families.

SJR74 will be referred to the Senate where it can be rejected, accepted and sent to the ballot, or sent to a conference committee. Missourians are urged to let their legislators know they oppose these efforts to trick Missourians into giving their rights away and making it harder for votes to count.

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Welcome back to Under the Dome, your weekly update on the goings-on of the Missouri state legislature.

Legislature finally gets around to passing some bills; both are stinkers

You’d think that a legislature that is controlled by a GOP supermajority would be getting lots done this session without pesky progressives to get in the way. You’d be wrong.

With less than a month before the end of the legislative session, Missouri electeds finally sent some legislation to the governor to sign. TL;DR: They won’t make Missouri better.

A political stunt disguised as a bill on Wednesday became the first bill sent this year to Gov. Mike Parson. The bill dedicated $2.2 million to support deployment of Missouri National Guard soldiers and State Highway Patrol troopers to Texas for border security.

And on Thursday, the legislature sent Parson an education funding bill, which will take support away from the 91% of Missouri kids who attend public schools. Described by one lawmaker as “poison,”  the bill will both expand vouchers, taking money from neighborhood schools, and will allow independent charter schools in Boone County.

Politicians protect corporations over people

Meanwhile, the legislature continues to discuss issues that directly hurt everyday Missourians. The Missouri House gave initial approval this week to a bill that could protect pesticide manufacturers from some cancer lawsuits.

Much of the debate focused on a specific pesticide manufacturer: Bayer, the company with U.S. headquarters in St. Louis that purchased Monsanto, the original manufacturer of RoundUp pesticide.

To date, the company has been embroiled in over 167,000 suits claiming that RoundUp is responsible for causing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Some cases have been dismissed, but Bayer has also been forced to pay billions of dollars in restitution for others, according to the Associated Press.

Obstruction at the highest levels of leadership in legislature

Finally, bipartisan leaders this week condemned Dean Plocher, who holds the highest leadership position in the House. The speaker obstructed an investigation of his laundry list of scandals by pressuring witnesses and refusing to issue subpoenas, members of the House Ethics Committee said Monday.

Some witnesses refused to speak out of fear Plocher would use his power as speaker to retaliate as he reportedly had before.

The attorney collecting evidence marveled at the terror among House staff: “I have not encountered more unwilling witnesses … in my career. The level of fear expressed by a number of the potential witnesses is a daunting factor in completing this investigation.”

That’s the week in politics brought to you by a supermajority that has turned its back on Missourians.

Welcome back to Under the Dome, your weekly update on the goings-on of the Missouri state legislature.

Grandstanding at the cost of health care for everyday Missourians

We’re all for standing on principles, but the Missouri legislature this week proved it prefers grandstanding that directly hurts Missourians.

This week the Missouri Senate joined the House in voting to block health care provider Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid payments on the charge that its affiliates perform abortions (no such procedures are provided in Missouri because it is prohibited under current state law).

According to Planned Parenthood of Great Plains, roughly one in five patients in Missouri are on Medicaid, meaning the organization’s survival would be in jeopardy if signed into law.

State Rep. Wendy Hausman, R-St. Peters, is one of the dozens of Republican co-sponsors of the bill and admits it’s a symbolic gesture of rebuke. The cost of that symbol, though, is the services that Planned Parenthood does provide in Missouri, including STI testing, cancer screenings, wellness checks and other services.

Missouri’s teacher shortage isn’t getting any better. Will lawmakers act on a plan to fix it?

Meanwhile, Jefferson City politicians continue to ignore real problems, like the chronic teacher shortage crisis, which was said to be at a point of crisis two years ago.

A report from KCUR in Kansas City found little has been done to solve the problem. A recent report found that numerous teaching positions were either vacant or filled by individuals who were not fully certified.

The need is especially acute in areas classified as “critical,” which includes elementary classrooms, early childhood education and special education.

About 3,325 of those positions are vacant.

Paul Katnik, who oversaw the report as the head of DESE’s Office of Educator Quality, said the teacher shortage started before the pandemic, but has accelerated in the years since. “I can’t think of any reason why uneducated kids in our state is good for anybody so it should be something that’s on all of our radar,” he said.

Candidates rush to be the most extreme in the GOP primary race for Secretary of State

From education to health care to crumbling roads, candidates in the GOP primary race seem to be in competition to out-extreme each other. The candidates include a person who made deadlines for burning books with a flamethrower, a top lawmaker who faces an ethics investigation and a state senator aligned with the hard-right Missouri Freedom Caucus.

As Republican strategist Gregg Keller shared with the Kansas City Star, “Being branded in a Republican primary as a moderate today is really the kiss of death.”

ICYMI, there was a bit of good news this week, from Tony Messenger’s excellent column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about why ballot candy should leave a bad taste in our mouths; to this P-D piece that highlight’s a Kansas City’s dad’s embrace of his transgender daughter despite bigoted views he once held.

Welcome back to Under the Dome, your weekly update on the goings-on of the Missouri state legislature.

Voters get final say as politicians seem bent on representing everyone but them

Remember that early viral video of the kid who had just received anesthesia at the dentist who – drugged up and confused — asked from the backseat of his parents’ car, “Is this real life?”

This week felt like that in Jefferson City, from an ethics investigation that continues to drag on for the House’s top leader to attempts to take money from public schools with unpopular vouchers to lawmakers’ refusal to help those injured in Kansas City’s Super Bowl parade.

Sadly, the answer is yes. Yes, this is real life.

Grown adults who theoretically got into politics because they care about their communities and state voted this week to return so-called ballot candy to a joint resolution that dismantles majority rule and makes it harder for ordinary Missourians to keep politicians in check.

Why the candy? Because these politicians know the only way voters will give up their rights is if they are tricked. In this case, voters could be asked whether one must be a U.S. citizen to vote in Missouri AND whether foreign entities should be forbidden from funding initiative petitions – both already required and forbidden, respectively, in the state.

The measure will now go to the full House for debate before it heads back to the Senate.

Budget fight looms as help for Missourians is bleak

Meanwhile, elected officials are rushing to reach agreement on the state’s budget, which is shaping up to be even more draconian than the funding plan originally announced by Gov. Mike Parson, with reduced funding for teacher pay supplements and caps on how much providers can pay personal care aides who help people with disabilities.

As reported in the Missouri Independent, the budget approved Thursday by the House is $1.9 billion less in total spending than Parson’s proposed plan. Much of that reduction is in the Medicaid program and other services provided by the departments of Mental Health, Health and Senior Services and Social Services.

Prioritizing pesticide over people

If politicians aren’t focused on improving teacher pay or paying for personal care for people with disabilities, what are they doing?

Republican lawmaker Justin Brown has put the state on the map as one of three in the country considering bills to shield pesticide makers from lawsuits. Roundup and its parent company Bayer have shelled out billions of dollars to defend its product. Thousands of people nationwide have sued claiming the pesticide’s active ingredient glyphosate caused non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

According to an investigation by KSDK in St. Louis, the Missouri Coalition for the Environment said the proposed legislation shows how companies like Bayer do not want to pay the cost of harming people.

Voters reject far-right school board candidates campaigning against DEI and “woke” agendas across Missouri

There is a somewhat happy ending to this edition of Under the Dome. And here it is: Despite these extreme politicians who seem hell bent on plowing over their constituents, voters ultimately get a say and they did in spades during Tuesday’s municipal elections.

Voters defeated conservative candidates across the St. Louis region and in Columbia Tuesday in a sweeping rebuke of right-wing efforts to gain control of local school boards.

As reported in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, none of the 13 candidates endorsed by right-wing radio talk show host Marc Cox won their races after campaigning against what he called a “woke agenda” in schools.

And in Columbia, John Potter, who also ran unsuccessfully last year, was defeated by two more progressive candidates for school board. As reported in the Columbia Missourian, Potter campaigned on bringing a conservative voice to the board. He focused primarily on addressing students’ behavioral issues, implementing concealed carry training for district staff and advocating for school choice policies.

So yes, David, this is real life. But no, it’s not going to be like this forever.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Contact: liz@progressmo.org

Politicians scheme to trick voters into giving away rights, end 100 years of majority rule

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri House Election Committee today moved forward with adding so-called ballot candy to SJR74, a shameful move meant to trick voters. The resolution would dismantle democracy as Missourians have known it for over 100 years. SJR74, as currently constructed, would end majority rule in Missouri, potentially requiring more than 70% of a statewide vote for any constitutional amendment to pass.

“Everyone knows why this resolution is loaded with ballot candy,” said Liz McCune, Executive Director of Progress Missouri. “Missourians hate these plans to end majority rule. Politicians are trying every trick they can to distract and confuse us from their real agenda. These changes will result in making politicians even more powerful while making it harder for Missourians to have a say and go around a legislature that often ignores them.”

Today, the House committee added items to the Senate passed version of SJR74, including a requirement that those who vote in Missouri elections be U.S. citizens and a clause that foreign governments cannot fund ballot initiative efforts. BOTH OF THESE ITEMS ARE ALREADY REQUIRED UNDER MISSOURI LAW.

“The ballot candy is designed to hide the true impact of the measure and gain support from voters who don’t know that several items in the ballot summary are already required by law,” said Marilyn McLeod, President of the League of Women Voters of Missouri. “The initiative process is an important part of democracy in Missouri and the suggested changes would squelch the voice of the people, overturning the sacred principle of ‘one person, one vote’.”

Since the beginning of the year, thousands of Missourians voiced their opposition to attacks on the initiative petition process, many pointing out that the process already in place gives Missourians the power to make direct decisions about policies that impact them and their families.

Missourians are urged to let their legislator know they oppose these efforts to trick Missourians into giving their rights away and making it harder for votes to count.

Welcome back to Under the Dome, your weekly update on the goings-on of the Missouri state legislature.

Legislative homestretch likely to focus on dismantling the initiative petition process and passing budget, education bill, health care

With eight weeks left in the 2024 Missouri legislative session, no legislation has passed through both chambers.

Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, asked a House committee to add back ballot candy provisions that were stripped from the Senate resolution.

Before they went on spring break, senators passed an over 150-page omnibus education bill. However, it must now go through the House, where it will likely undergo changes as it faces opposition from both homeschool and local public school advocates.

This session, lawmakers also must pass a tax that funds that bulk of Missouri’s Medicaid program and the state’s $50 billion operating budget.

Poll shows Missourians overwhelmingly support access to contraceptives despite efforts to politicize it

New polling data released Thursday shows that birth control is not considered controversial by Missourians.

“During a time when many issues divide people in our state, birth control enjoys near universal support,” Michelle Trupiano, executive director of Missouri Family Health Council, said.

The survey polled 1,000 Missourians between 18-35, split almost evenly among Democrats, Republicans and Independents. Most of those polled – including 84% of Democrats, 61% of Independents and about half of Republicans – expressed concern that their legislature will push laws restricting birth control.

House votes to repeal corporate income taxes saying the big business billion-dollar giveaway will have a trickle-down effect

The Missouri House sent a bill repealing the corporate income tax to the Senate on a party-line vote Wednesday, with Democrats calling it a business giveaway.

The corporate income tax is paid by larger companies with many stockholders. A fiscal note for the bill estimates it would reduce state revenues by at least $884 million when fully implemented. The state collected $13.2 billion in general revenue in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

SOS race: Plocher files before going in front of the House Ethics Committee; Coleman fails to carry her MO-3 campaign to term to join the primary

Two state legislators who had been seeking different offices abandoned their bids on Tuesday and instead filed paperwork to run for secretary of state.

State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, R-Arnold, dropped her bid to represent the 3rd Congressional District and joined the Republican race for secretary of state.

Earlier Tuesday, House Speaker Dean Plocher ended his campaign for lieutenant governor. Instead he launched his bid for secretary of state before his 4 p.m. appearance in front of the House Ethics Committee.