Missouri Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, denounces the leadership’s decision to put his proposal to end personal property taxes on the back burner as the Legislature ends its session. Video editing by Beth O'Malley
JEFFERSON CITY — Missourians hoping to place bets on sporting events will have to wait at least another year after Republican infighting in the Missouri Senate left a handful of high-profile issues unresolved as the Legislature adjourned for the year Friday.
Along with a furious, last-minute failed push to tax and regulate wagering on sports, a chaotic final day in the upper chamber meant the demise of a bid to reduce the state’s personal property tax on vehicles. The Senate also failed to sign off on a proposal to make it harder to alter the state constitution before the final gavel sounded.
The House had a higher success rate as it chugged toward adjournment. Among a flurry of bills that moved to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk is a proposal designed to provide more access to banks for companies involved in the marijuana business.
Pot businesses have had trouble finding banking options because many financial institutions don’t want to handle accounts for companies selling a product federal officials consider illegal.
While the GOP-majority House moved smoothly to wrap up its work Friday, the Senate was the scene of parliamentary sparring between Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, and Sen. Bill Eigel, a Weldon Spring Republican who is considering a run for governor in 2024.
O’Laughlin attempted to run a tight ship in her first year as floor leader, sticking to a schedule that had most senators out of the building at dinner time rather than enduring lengthy overnight debates.
Hoping to end an impasse that had tied up the Senate on Thursday, O’Laughlin used a series of procedural motions to push a sports betting bill to the forefront of the day’s action.
But, the sponsor of the measure, Sen. Denny Hoskins, an ally of Eigel, set the bill aside without debate, ending an effort to bring Missouri in line with nearly all of its surrounding states when it comes to gambling on sports.
Sports gambling has passed easily out of the House for the past two years. But Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, has blocked its advance, saying the expansion of gambling must also address illegal slot machines that have flooded the state.
Eigel attempted to position his personal property tax reduction legislation on the floor, but was defeated on a 26-8 procedural vote, leading him to resume a filibuster he had started Thursday by reading a book about former President Ronald Reagan.
‘Political theater’
O’Laughlin, in her first year as the floor leader in the chamber, soon adjourned the chamber, decrying what she called “political theater†that resembles “mud wrestling.â€
She accused Eigel of tying the Senate in knots when he doesn’t get his way.
“People bring legislation to the floor that they cannot get passed and then, in retaliation for that, they hang up the business of the Senate for hour after hour after hour,†O’Laughlin said. “We’re not all running for governor. We just want to do the work of the Senate. We need cooperation from everyone to get that done.â€
Eigel scoffed at his colleagues, saying they chose to debate sports betting, which would financially benefit Missouri sports teams, rather than his plan to reduce personal property taxes, which would help everyone who owns a vehicle.
“The theater of Jefferson City will go on long after we gavel out today,†Eigel said. “Nobody got into politics because they were intent on being nice.â€
After taking a nearly four-hour break to let tempers cool, the Senate returned to more gridlock from Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, who has burned up hours of time this session filibustering various bills in order to push his initiatives.
In this case, he bemoaned the Senate’s failure to approve legislation restricting the foreign ownership of farmland. Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, joined Moon in stalling action in the Senate.
Freshman Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, said he questioned running for the Senate last year after serving in the House for eight years.
“I didn’t want to be here for this very reason,†Fitzwater said, adding that his colleagues who gummed up the session were “selfish.â€
“The people of Missouri deserve better,†Fitzwater said.
‘Republican egos’
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, decried the grievance politics in the Senate, saying “Republican egos are standing in the way†of progress on issues that affect Missourians.
House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, said the Senate’s failure on reforming the initiative petition process could lead to the restoration of abortion rights via the ballot.
“If the Senate fails to take action on IP reform, I think the Senate should be held accountable for allowing abortion to return to Missouri,†Plocher said.
Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said he is embarrassed Missouri doesn’t have sports betting when nearly all surrounding states allow it and are generating tax revenue when people place bets.
Rowden suggested that Eigel and Hoskins had a problem with O’Laughlin deciding which bills get to be debated.
“Maybe they don’t like a woman being in charge,†he told the Post-Dispatch.
Eigel’s tax legislation, which is likely to be a centerpiece of his gubernatorial run, would exempt vehicles at least 10 years old from the personal property tax.
The bill also cuts the personal property tax assessment rate from 33.3% to 31%. Currently, personal property is assessed at a third of its real value, which local governments then tax.
It faced an uphill climb to win support from Democrats and Republicans, including O’Laughlin, who said local governments would lose big chunks of revenue that helps pay for road maintenance, nursing homes and public safety.
Republicans in the House sought to keep both the tax and betting issues alive. After 2:30 p.m. Friday, with less than four hours before their adjournment deadline, the House sent a measure to the Senate that would slash personal property taxes and legalize sports betting.
“I think we’re showing once again to the people of our state that the House continues to work and continues to really go above and beyond in trying to negotiate with the other side of the building,†said Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho.
The measure did not surface on the Senate floor before the day ended.
As for the next step in the sports betting saga, the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals have said they may begin collecting signatures to place a question on the 2024 statewide ballot asking if wagering on athletic events should be legalized.
“I’m sorry the session ended the way it did,†O’Laughlin said. “We need to look forward to next year and we need to work hard on our relationships. I hope we come back with a renewed sense of collegiality.â€
Supporters of sports betting would need to collect more than 170,000 signatures from Missouri voters to get a question on the November ballot.
Members of the Missouri House of Representatives throw papers into the air as part of the traditional paper toss marking the final moments on the last day of the legislative session on Friday.