JEFFERSON CITY — State lawmakers will convene in just over two weeks for the 2024 session against the backdrop of an election season that has at least 15 members of the Legislature seeking higher office.
All signs point to plenty of political posturing by those who want to lead the state, while Gov. Mike Parson, who is in his final year in office, seeks to shape his legacy as Missouri’s 57th governor.
Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, who is running for Secretary of State, is predicting an amped-up Senate, where at least five of the 34 members are seeking statewide posts.
Competition for floor time could be hot and it could lead to gridlock.
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“I think it will look a little different than it has in recent years,†Rowden said.
Support for the idea that the Senate could become a legislative logjam can be seen in the early round of bills that have been filed for the upcoming session.
Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, who is running for governor, introduced politically popular legislation to eliminate the state’s personal property tax. But, in a sign that it could again bog down in the upper chamber, he has not specified how local governments will make up for hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue if the tax is ended.
Rowden said that hard-line fiscal stance spells trouble.
“I don’t disagree with what he’s trying to do,†Rowden said. “But, you just can’t rip the Band-Aid off.â€
Rowden said other types of tax cuts implemented by Republicans have been phased in over time or include triggers to avoid creating a funding cliff for governments providing services to taxpayers.
“You’ve got to do it the right way,†he said.
In an early November appearance on a Columbia talk radio show, Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, predicted the 2024 version of the often mercurial Senate would be productive at times, but also chaotic, primarily because of the conservative faction in the chamber typically led by Eigel.
“I’m praying about that every day,†O’Laughlin said.
She singled out Eigel in particular, saying he has attempted to bring major pieces of legislation to the floor without working with others to find compromise.
“The Senate is all about relationships,†O’Laughlin said.
Eigel, who faces Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe in the GOP gubernatorial primary, is showing no signs of tempering his firebrand approach, which he has used to block action in the Senate during his seven years in the chamber.
In November, Eigel pilloried Parson on social media after the governor met with Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, to discuss civility in politics.
“This is why Republicans lose elections. Dems are destroying our cities, mutilating our kids, trampling our rights and defunding our police — but (Parson) is worried about being nice. What a joke,†Eigel wrote.
Rowden said being nice is possible in politics.
In a video launching his campaign for secretary of state, Rowden decried a political scene that has been dominated by aggression rather than diplomacy.
“A desire to be civil with our disagreements has been replaced with an intentional, concerted effort to attack and divide people,†Rowden said.
He said his approach won’t change in the Senate as he runs for statewide office, allied with the governor and Kehoe in their bid to stave off inroads by the hard-right conservatives.
“I’m not doing anything different than what I’ve done for the last seven years in the Senate,†Rowden told the Post-Dispatch. “We’ve set out to run this race differently. I don’t have anything to hide from.â€
Campaign talking points
Lawmakers currently are filing bills they hope to see cross the finish line in May, showing Missourians what they can expect to hear about from the Legislature this year.
It’s no accident many of the proposals focus on campaign talking points.
Members of both parties have filed legislation aimed at banning the foreign ownership of Missouri farmland as views on China switch from trade partner to alleged threat.
Another estimated 8% of the more than 1,000 new bills filed thus far are focused on making it harder for residents to change the state Constitution through the use of the initiative petition process. Abortion opponents, a powerful force in Missouri politics, are worried voters will restore some level of reproductive rights by a vote of the people if the law isn’t altered.
Legislation changing state crime laws, a perennial campaign issue, also features as a common theme on both sides of the aisle. An estimated 20% of the new bills are focused on crime, including calls for more gun control by Democrats and tougher sentencing laws from Republicans.
Legalizing sports betting will again receive an airing, despite numerous false starts on the matter in recent years. Rep. Dan Houx, R-Warrensburg, has been point man on the effort and he’s running for a Senate seat. Houx would like to score a win in 2024.
Parson wants to boost the availability of child care across the state to help businesses. Add that to the list of items he’ll be lobbying for in his State of the State speech on Jan. 24.
And, expect fights to erupt over the $50 billion state budget, which must be approved in early May. Revenues are flattening after a post-pandemic surge of dollars allowed lawmakers this year to pump billions into widening Interstate 70 and giving low-paid state workers raises.
Pressure points include the state Board of Education, which is calling for a boost in per pupil spending at a time when Republicans are pushing for school vouchers, additional charter schools and other changes in how public schools operate
O’Laughlin, the No. 2 leader in the Senate, has already raised questions about the added money. In the House, Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, is running for state treasurer. Deals could be in the offing.
In launching his campaign for lieutenant governor, House Speaker Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, provided a road map of what he will be pushing for in the coming session in his GOP-majority chamber.
“We must protect our farmland from China, our classrooms from liberal indoctrination, our families from Biden’s failed economy and our communities from the progressive crime wave,†Plocher said.
Plocher also has pushed for the elimination of the earnings tax, as well as changes to the state’s personal property tax system.
But Plocher’s power as speaker and in negotiations with the Senate also could be hobbled by an ongoing ethics investigation after he acknowledged he had received taxpayer reimbursements for travel expenses he’d already paid for out of his campaign fund.
He has paid back the money and, for now, a majority of members of the Republican caucus are standing by Plocher as he navigates an ethics inquiry, his job as speaker and an expensive statewide campaign.
There is no timeline for when that probe will be complete.
Rep. Peter Merideth, D-ºüÀêÊÓƵ, said the session could be raucous as Republicans try to trumpet their candidacies.
“There’s no question that there are going to be a whole lot of people trying to grab attention,†Merideth said.
“I do expect there to be a lot of division. With so many of them running against each other for higher office, I think that division and the rhetoric around it is likely to be higher than we’ve ever seen,†he added.