Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
The following is a legislative update from Clarkston Nelson, LLC concerning the Missouri General Assembly’s spring legislative session. Use the information within to develop local coverage of issues important to your readers.
Two weeks remain in the 2025 Regular Session. Earlier this week, the Senate passed the House budget bills, with each Chamber naming its conferees for budget conference committees this morning. This sets up conference debates between the two sides next week to agree on the final form of budget bills that each Chamber must approve by next Friday, May 9th.
It was a slow week for the House, as it worked each morning and then adjourned. It spent most of this time adding floor amendments to Senate bills, some relating to financial institutions and healthcare, before sending those bills back to the upper chamber. It did give final approval to multiple bills this week, sending a bill relating to childcare and child protection and a bill relating to insurance cybersecurity to the Governor’s desk.
Yesterday morning, the Senate third read several bills, including giving final passage to bills relating to financial institutions and cotton trailers. But fractures emerged, as some Democrats held up the approval of the journal on Tuesday morning to express displeasure with the negotiation process on legislation seeking to modify Prop A, and as a schism among Republicans arose yesterday during floor debate on an omnibus school bill when the bill was amended to condition its implementation on fully funding of the schools and school transportation from year to year. It remains to be seen whether the Senate will continue to function relatively smoothly, as it has most of the year, or whether these fractures foreshadow further breakdown of floor debate in the coming weeks.
With two weeks remaining, neither time nor ever-changing language will allow for your customary weekly reports. Instead, we will communicate with you via intermittent texts, emails, and/or calls as priorities progress over the remaining time. Session adjourns promptly at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, May 16. We will work to sift through all final legislation and amendments and send you a final legislative report shortly after adjournment.
Feel free to contact our office anytime if you have any questions on the current status of legislation of interest.
Proposition A Upheld
The MO Supreme Court handed down its decision Tuesday afternoon and has upheld Proposition A. Proposition A, which garnered substantial voter approval with a 58% to 42% margin, will raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026, with future increases tied to the Consumer Price Index and Employers with 15 or more workers must guarantee one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. Several business organizations challenged the ballot measure, specifically over the sick leave provisions. In a 5-2 decision, the court determined that the summary statement of the initiative met the necessary standards of adequacy and fairness, concluding that the plaintiffs had not provided any compelling evidence to show that voters were misinformed. The Supreme Court declined to address the single subject claim, stating that such issues must first be raised and adjudicated in a lower court. The full court ruling can be found here.
Budget Update
On Tuesday, the Missouri Senate finalized their version of the FY2026 budget, proposing to spend nearly $49.5 billion across the 13 operating budgets for public safety, health, education, social services, transportation, and the operations of state government. Overall, the Senate budget would spend $1.6 billion more than the House version and $575 million less than what was proposed by Governor Mike Kehoe in his January State of the State Address.
The nearly five hour marathon reviewing and finalizing the budget only saw a few flash points, notably when Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold) attempted to defund state YMCA programming over a recent reported investigation into improper exposure by an individual to a child and again later when she attempted to offer an amendment to eliminate funding at the Department of Corrections for the purchase of drugs used for lethal injection of death row inmates. After considerable debate on both amendments that were offered by Senator Coleman, both ultimately failed.
Towards the end of the debate, which several senators overall expressed appreciation to Senate Appropriations Chairman Lincoln Hough (R-Springfield) for his openness to consider requests for funding throughout the budget process, some Democrat senators did take to the floor to discuss ways the budget could be improved, including additional funding for education and social services programs highlighting specifically the need to look into future solutions to help foster care kids.
Other significant differences between the House and Senate include:
The total operating budget approved by the Senate proposes using around $15.7 billion in general revenue supplemented by a substantial amount of funds from the state's rainy-day fund, slightly less than the $16 billion proposed by Gov Kehoe, but still well above the consensus revenue estimate reached in December of 2024. Appropriators from the Kehoe Administration as well as the House and Senate projected taking in $13.56 billion for FY26, which begins July 1, although state revenues are currently down 1.65% for the year and legislators are considering several proposals which will further reduce revenue, such as eliminating the state's capital gains tax, exempt members of the National Guard from the state's income tax, decrease the maximum percentage taxed on personal property, and limit growth of local property tax revenue to 3% or the rate of inflation, whichever is less.
Looking forward, both chambers are expected to work together next week to reconcile differences between their respective versions of the budget proposals. Additionally, the Senate Appropriations Committee still has to pass the remaining three Capital Improvements and APRA spending bills totaling nearly $3.7 billion before the May 9 deadline.
Motor Vehicle Registration
The Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee convened Monday afternoon to discuss HB 138, sponsored by Representative Doyle Justus (R-Troy). This bill clarifies that the Department of Revenue cannot release the home address or any other information that identifies a vehicle owned or leased by any person who is an active or retired county, State, or Federal parole officer, Federal pretrial officer, a peace officer, a person vested under the Missouri Constitution with judicial power, a member of the Federal judiciary, or a member of such person's immediate family contained in the Department's motor vehicle or driver registration records. No supporting or opposing testimony was presented.
Sunshine Law Modifications
The Senate Committee on General Laws met Tuesday morning to consider passage of HB 145, sponsored by Representative Bill Falkner (R-St. Joseph). The bill allows for closure of records if they contain individually identifiable information of minors, and the record is held by a city or park board. The bill also includes an exemption to the sunshine law for state parks records and exempts utility records, county and municipal park records, and records regarding endangered plants or animals. During committee discussion, a committee substitute was adopted to include language prohibiting a public body from closing the municipality or zip code of residents to the visitor. Once modified, the committee passed the bill by a 5-0 vote.
Changes to the Initiative Petition Process
On Monday afternoon, the Senate Local Government, Elections and Pensions Committee met to hear HCS HB 575 & 551, sponsored by Rep. Brad Banderman (R-St. Clair), affecting the initiative and referendum petition process used to amend the Missouri Constitution by voters, making numerous statutory changes to the process of collecting signatures and enabling topics to reach the statewide ballot. The bill requires signature pages to be printed on a form as specified by the Secretary of State (SOS). Signature collectors must be citizens of the United States and residents of Missouri or must be physically present in Missouri for at least 30 consecutive days before the collection of signatures. Petition circulators are prohibited from being compensated based on the number of signatures collected. Signatures must be recorded using black or dark ink. Only Missouri registered voters can challenge the official ballot title or fiscal note for a Constitutional amendment, initiative petition, or referendum measure. The bill requires final adjudication relating to a challenge of the official ballot title or fiscal note to occur at least eight weeks before the date of the election. Petition sample sheets must be submitted to the SOS six months before the next general election. Currently, the SOS and the Attorney General review initiative and referendum petitions for sufficiency as to form and approve or reject them on that basis. The bill changes this to require these officials to review initiative and referendum petitions for compliance with Section 116.050 and with Article III of the Missouri Constitution. There was no testimony presented in support of the bill. Testimony in opposition to the bill was offered by the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, Jobs With Justice Voter Action, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, saying the bill provides a chilling effect on political speech. The League of Women Voters of Missouri noted, “the IP process is an important tool for direct democracy,” and multiple efforts are underway to make it more difficult for the people.
Water Exportation
The House Rules-Administrative Committee convened Tuesday morning to discuss SB 82, sponsored by Senator Jamie Burger (R-Benton). The bill specifies that it is unlawful for any person to withdraw from any water source inside the state of Missouri for export of more than 30 miles outside the state unless a water export permit issued by the Department of Natural Resources is held or a special exemption has been granted. The bill also establishes a 120-day review process with a public comment period and requires all permit holders to annually file a publicly available report detailing the volume, withdrawal rates, and end use of all exported water. Finally, the bill outlines the process for renewing issued permits and establishes a civil review process for the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute complaints against permit holders. A committee substitute was previously adopted to include HB 995, which modifies certain provisions requiring annual testing of school drinking water sources for lead and HB 928, which provides a fix for the St. Louis Port to access the Waterways and Ports Trust Fund. The committee passed the bill by a 8-0 vote.
First Responder Recruitment and Retention Act
On Thursday morning, the full House third read and passed House Committee Substitute for SB 71, as amended, sponsored by Sen. David Gregory (R-Ballwin). The bill now returns to the Senate. The bill creates the "First Responder Recruitment and Retention Act" to provide free college tuition at public colleges and universities in the state for police officers, firefighters, paramedics, other emergency response professionals, and their dependents. The House vote was 112-33. An emergency clause was approved, 144-6, extending the sunset for First Responders Line of Duty compensation. The bill also includes fingerprint submission to the State Highway Patrol for applicants to various boards, commissions, departments, divisions, and committees, as listed. The bill allows the removal from CaseNet of certain misdemeanor court records of deceased persons. House floor amendments include: higher learning institutions can offer the Public Safety Recruitment and Retention Act; a cleanup amendment involving neighborhood door handles legislation; LAGERS, St. Louis police retirement compensation, availability of health care records, fees collected by the Missouri Emergency Response Commission; and the Nonprofit Safety and Security task force.
