Tag: Legislature

The Missouri Legislature Is So Back – And They’re Ready To Make Missouri Worse

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

Starting December 1, Missouri’s state legislators started pre-filing bills ahead of the 2024 legislative session. While legislators won’t officially reconvene under the dome until January 3, the bills they’ve filed so far make it clear: the roadmap for 2024 includes getting rid of your voice and your freedoms.

Attacks On Majority Rule

Once again, the legislature is coming for your voice. Last year, legislators spent months debating how exactly they wanted to abolish majority rule in passing constitutional amendments. By filing nearly 20 bills targeting the initiative petition process in the first week of pre-filing, legislators have made it clear they don’t care what Missourians want.

Cuts To Public Education Funding

Missouri has gotten national attention this year for its abysmal teacher pay and school funding. In 2024, the state legislature plans to pour gas on the fire by expanding voucher programs and charter schools. These bills would take money away from chronically underfunded public schools and give it to private institutions that don’t have to follow the same rules.

Bringing Back Right-to-Work

In 2018, Missourians voted to get rid of “right-to-work” laws, which would make it harder for working Missourians to advocate for fair and safe working conditions. But since our politicians don’t care what Missourians want, they’ve decided to bring it back.

Restrictions On Abortion Access

Even though Missouri has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, that’s still not enough for the most extreme members of the legislature. Under some of their proposals, anyone who gets or provides an abortion could potentially be charged with murder.

Increased School Censorship

Politicians in both chambers want to expand school censorship, even as Missouri is considered one of the most censored states in the country.

December 8, 2023
RELEASE: Jeff City Politicians Plot To End Majority Rule In 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Contact: kelli@progressmo.org

After failing to end majority rule in 2023, Missouri legislators pre-file legislation to dismantle the initiative petition process

Jefferson City, MO – Ahead of the 2024 Missouri legislative session, legislators have pre-filed nearly 20 bills aimed at dismantling the initiative petition process, making it harder for Missourians’ voices to be heard.

“The League of Women Voters believes responsible government should be responsive to the will of the people,” said Marilyn McLeod, President of the League of Women Voters. “The citizen initiative petition is the most direct form of voter participation in our democracy. This valuable and trusted process has been enshrined in the Missouri Constitution for more than 100 years and has been used for both conservative and progressive issues. It is already a complicated and difficult process. Therefore, the League of Women Voters of Missouri opposes any attempts to make it more difficult to get a measure on the ballot or to raise the threshold for approval.”

“Missouri’s initiative petition process represents the purest form of direct democracy. It is the way Missouri voters across the political spectrum can let their voices be heard,” said Denise Lieberman, Director and General Counsel at the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition. “Missourians overwhelmingly support the initiative petition process. These continued efforts by legislators to limit voter participation and freedom of speech is anti-American and undermines our democratic process.”

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December 7, 2023
Plocher’s Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Ethics Investigation Saga Continues

In October, Progress MO reported that Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher, a Republican representative from Des Peres, had repeatedly broken the law. We joined hundreds of Missourians in calling for an investigation into Plocher’s schemes, as well as for his immediate resignation.

Since then, the House has launched an ethics investigation against Plocher. But Plocher has also become more bold in his defiance of the law.

Before the House committee investigating Plocher reconvenes Dec. 6, here’s a debrief on what’s happened so far.

Plocher Threatened To Fire An Employee For Exposing His Government Contract Scheme

As previously reported by the Missouri Independent, Plocher committed “unethical and perhaps unlawful conduct” in seeking an expensive government contract that could benefit elected officials running for office. Then, he announced his own campaign for Lieutenant Governor.

Plocher Used Campaign Funds To Pay For Travel, Lied About It, And Got The State To Reimburse His Campaign

Plocher used taxpayer dollars to reimburse his campaign nine times since taking office in 2018. He signed sworn affidavits saying he had used personal funds, not campaign funds, to pay for travel when seeking reimbursement – a blatant lie. These illegal reimbursements could violate both state and federal law.

Plocher Fired His Chief of Staff – And Replaced Him With A Criminal

After the two ethics violations above and extensive public pressure, the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Plocher.

Plocher fired his chief of staff and hired a new one: former House Speaker Rod Jetton, who admitted to assaulting a woman. Maybe Plocher figured Jetton’s past scandals gave him the necessary experience to coach Plocher through his current ones.

Plocher’s Investigation Continues – Let Your Legislators Know Where You Stand

The House Ethics Committee meets again today to continue investigating Plocher. They should know Missourians won’t stand for another corrupt Speaker.

Write a letter to your legislators now to let them know you want Plocher OUT.

For more of Progress MO’s coverage on Speaker Plocher’s legal problems, read Bring The Hammer Down on Plocher

December 6, 2023
Protecting Their Votes
It’s Time For Missouri To Make It Easier For People With Disabilities To Vote

This week, elderly Missourians and Missourians with disabilities are challenging a new voter ID law that makes it harder for them to vote.

But overturning this anti-democratic law should be just the beginning. If Missouri politicians want to work for adults with disabilities, they have a long way to go in earning their trust and building a state that works for them.

Missouri’s Voting Laws Make It Harder For Adults With Disabilities To Vote

Even without restrictive voting laws like those found in Missouri, adults with disabilities face more barriers to voting than adults without disabilities. National research from earlier this year found that 18% of voters with disabilities have difficulty waiting in line to vote, compared to only 11% of voters without disabilities. Voters with disabilities are more than twice as likely as voters without disabilities to say they have difficulty getting to their polling place.

In Missouri, anti-democratic voting laws make it harder for people with disabilities. The voter ID law currently in the courts has a disproportionate effect on voters with disabilities, who are almost twice as likely not to have photo ID than voters without disabilities.

According to Brianna Lennon, the County Clerk for Boone County, county election authorities don’t get the necessary funding to train election workers on how to help voters with disabilities or to fix broken equipment. State law also doesn’t require accessible voting equipment at every polling place.

Finally, Missouri’s absentee voting requirements present unique challenges to voters with disabilities. Missouri requires mail-in ballots to be received by election day with notarization, which is uniquely challenging for adults with disabilities who must rely on caregivers or paratransit services.

What Can Politicians Do About It?

61% of voters with disabilities do not believe that public officials and politicians care about what people with disabilities think. If politicians want to change that perception, it’s on them to expand access to the ballot box.

We’re calling on politicians to:
- Stop supporting and proposing anti-democratic voter ID laws that disproportionately impact people with disabilities.
- Fully fund local election authorities so they can train election workers and provide accessible polling places and voting equipment.
- Expand access to mail-in voting to make it easier for voters with disabilities to vote by mail.
- Expand the in-person absentee voting period to the national average of 20 days, as voters with disabilities are more likely to have difficulty with reliable transportation and consistent schedules.
Show Your Support

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November 28, 2023
RELEASE: Recent Changes to Missouri SNAP Program Reveal a Broken System

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 17, 2023
Contact: kelli@progressmo.org

Columbia, MO – Over the past two years, Missouri SNAP benefits have undergone major changes. As food prices continue to surge, Missouri families suffer, and often community food banks feel the heat of increased demand.

In September 2021, Missouri ended pandemic-era SNAP benefits, leaving families with $95 less a month to feed their families Then, this summer, Missouri declined to participate in a federally funded program to provide extra benefits for school children during the summer months. On July 1, 2023, Missouri reinstated a 3-month time limit on SNAP benefits for unemployed adults, which expired on October 1.

In 2022, 657,900 Missourians received SNAP benefits, and up to 28,000 Missourians were eligible to lose benefits once the 3-month time limit was reintroduced in July. Food prices have continued to increase through 2023. The simultaneous increase in food prices and decrease in SNAP benefits has led some to cut down to 1 or 2 meals a day.

Food pantries feel the pressure to make up the difference. Kera Mashek, United Way of Greater Kansas City’s Director of Communications, reported a 35% increase in the past year to their 211 call line:

Food assistance is continually in our top five most requested services from individuals calling in or searching our website for help. [The United Way of Greater Kansas City] issued emergency food pantry grants to help with record inflation earlier this year to help keep pantry shelves stocked amid record demand.

Missouri electeds should fight to increase access to healthy, nutritious food and get rid of failing systems that keep needy families from staying fed. A study by the Urban Institute found that SNAP time limits don’t increase employment – they just decrease the amount of aid going to people who need it.

And this year, Missouri refused to participate in summer benefits program because of failing infrastructure. Missouri failed to distribute 2022 aid in time because of a faulty system, so the state had time to take action. Many states faced the same issue – so they rebuilt their system. Missouri didn’t. Families took the fall. Further, Missouri’s failing SNAP call center has been the subject of a federal lawsuit due to extreme wait times, another issue that could be resolved if lawmakers invested in taking care of vulnerable Missourians.

November 17, 2023
It’s Always Spooky Season

It’s spooky season – and here in Missouri, we have no shortage of scream-worthy moments from the past year to keep us on our toes.

10. Missouri’s Most Famous Coward Wrote a Book On Manliness

Senator Josh Hawley, nationally known for literally running away from his own problems, thought he was the authority on manhood for Missouri, so much so that he wrote a whole book about it. Notably missing: form tips for sprinting away from rioters.

9. Extremists In the Legislature Obsessed Over Controlling Women’s Bodies

Last year, Missouri became the first state to ban all abortions after the fall of Roe v. Wade. But that wasn’t enough for the extremists in the state. As soon as session kicked off in January, the legislature spent days debating dress codes for women. And in February, the legislature debated restricting access to birth control and other preventative health care for the poorest Missourians.

8. Secretary of State Ashcroft Left an Anti-Voter Fraud Organization Over Conspiracy Theories

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft decided earlier this year to leave ERIC, a bipartisan interstate group designed to combat election fraud. Over six months later, he hasn’t found a replacement for it. Ashcroft pulled Missouri out of the organization after far-right conspiracies emerged about ERIC.

7. Radical Politicians Banned And Threatened To Burn Books

Missouri was named number one for school censorship earlier this year after the state successfully banned more than 300 books from libraries. Not long after, State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Bill Eigel posted a video of him using a flamethrower to burn boxes, saying if he was elected he would burn books on the front lawn of the Governor’s mansion.

6. Missouri Kids Were Granted Complete and Total Access To Guns Unsupervised

In February of this year, Republicans in the state legislature voted down any restrictions on toddlers’ right to bear arms – meaning a four year-old can carry an assault rifle in the street without adult supervision.

5. Elected Officials Refused To Feed Hungry Kids

Missouri had a chance to get free money to feed hungry kids during the summer. Elected officials just… didn’t apply for the money, so poor kids didn’t get fed.

4. The State Kicked Kids Off Their Health Care Because Of Paperwork Issues

After automatic Medicaid re-enrollment ended earlier this year, the state kicked thousands of Missourians off their health care, half of whom were children. Most of these Missourians are still eligible for Medicaid, but administrative issues like paperwork are forcing them out of coverage.

3. Lawmakers Ignored Education To Fight Culture Wars

Missouri is in the bottom five on teacher pay nationally, and is in last place for starting teacher pay. Nearly a third of Missouri schools are only open part-time. School funding has fallen in the past decade, putting Missouri at 49 in the country for K-12 education spending. But lawmakers spent session ignoring education and instead arguing about trans kids getting health care.

2. Attorney General Bailey Repeatedly Broke the Law

Attorney General Andrew Bailey made repeated illegal power grabs at the initiative petition process. Despite calls from the Republican State Auditor, a Republican judge and lawyers across the state, Bailey has continued his crusade for power by attempting to lie to voters.

1. Missouri Speaker of the House Committed Multiple Crimes

The Speaker of the Missouri House, Dean Plocher, got caught breaking the law multiple times, might be under FBI investigation, and is currently facing multiple calls to resign. The spookiest part? Plocher has said he will not step down AND he’s running for Lieutenant Governor – a higher office than his current position.

Don’t Let Them Get Away With It

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October 31, 2023
Bring The Hammer Down On Plocher

Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications

House Ethics Committee MUST Investigate Speaker Dean Plocher For His Repeated Violations of the Law

On September 22, reports by the Missouri Independent revealed that Speaker of the Missouri House Dean Plocher, a Republican representative from Des Peres, had committed “unethical and perhaps unlawful conduct” in seeking an expensive government contract that could benefit elected officials running for office.

A few weeks later, as insiders speculated that an FBI investigation of Plocher was underway, Plocher officially announced his run for Lieutenant Governor.

Missourians were still reeling from an elected official and statewide political candidate breaking the law when the Missouri Independent published another devastating report revealing that Plocher had broken the law multiple times.

New Report Shows Plocher Used Campaign Funds To Pay For Travel, Lied About It, And Got The State To Reimburse His Campaign

According to the Missouri Independent,

On at least nine occasions since 2018, Plocher spent campaign money [on travel expenses] and then also sought reimbursement from the legislature…
In each instance, Plocher was required to sign a sworn statement declaring that he had used “personal funds” to pay the expenses.
Campaign and legal experts interviewed by The Independent say an elected official is allowed to use campaign money for official business. Or, they can use personal money and then request reimbursement from the state.
But doing both could violate state and federal law.

Plocher took money from Missouri taxpayers to reimburse his campaign and lied about it. And it may have broken several laws.

Tell Your Legislators – Plocher Is No Longer Fit For Office

Since the latest allegations against Speaker Plocher came to light, more than 150 Missourians have called for an immediate investigation into Plocher’s actions. Some politicians have even called for Plocher’s resignation.

We can work together to get the legislature to investigate Plocher’s illegal activity, force him to resign as Representative and Speaker, and withdraw from his run for Lieutenant Governor.

Write a letter to your legislator now telling them you want to see Plocher investigated and out of office!

October 25, 2023