JEFFERSON CITY — Boone County's lone Republican House member touted his party's top priorities while the four Democrats expressed misgivings over some aspects of this year's legislative session.
The county's only state senator, Democrat Stephen Webber, declined requests to be interviewed about his take on the session, which ended May 15.
Gregg Bush
After serving two years in the Missouri House, Rep. Gregg Bush, D-Columbia, strove to prioritize health care of all forms during the session that began in January.
While pleased with some of the health care legislation passed, such as the transfer of licenses for respiratory therapists, pregnant women getting at-home access to medical devices and extending oral contraception for women, there were still some losses in legislation.
“We’re still underfunding the Foundation Formula (supporting public education) to the tune of a $190 million dollars,” Bush said.
He said that county jails, schools and universities continue to be underfunded as well. He added that these public goods provide benefits even if it does not directly impact all of the citizens, and provided health care services have also begun to dwindle.
While hospitals in Boone County have been “an oasis for health care,” four hospitals have been forced to close in the last six years. This means longer wait times and limited space for patients in need of medical attention.
As a medical professional, Bush emphasized that while hospital visits are less than ideal, he “would like to see a prioritization of the health and welfare of the people of Missouri.”
“The very first bill we heard on the floor was a death penalty for health care workers that performed abortion,” Bush said. “Couldn’t help but take that a little bit personally considering I’m a health care worker.”
With midterm elections, or a “popularity contest” according to Bush, happening this November, Bush worries that voters will continue to keep representatives in office who push bans for abortion and “less autonomy over our own bodies.”
“We’re going to prioritize all of these other things about who can use what kind of bathroom when I don’t care,” Bush said.
Bush said he worries about the elimination of the income tax and other tax bills that have been passed. Constituents in his district that are either older or renters are not receiving any sort of benefit from these adjusted taxes. Rather, Bush said that the sales tax will “make sure that renters pay more.”
He noted that bills like those that the majority Republican party are major proponents for do not align with Bush’s beliefs.
Many Democrat bills did not get passed during the legislative session merely due to the political party of the bill sponsor, he said. Bush had to make friends with Republicans to assist in getting some of his own legislation passed.
“If you have a D after your name, you’re not driving the bus,” Bush said, acknowledging that Republicans have a supermajority in the House and Senate.
During the legislative session, vaccines have been disputed, abortion has received pushback and insults have been thrown by each political party. Bush, as a medical professional who worked through the COVID-19 pandemic and relies on science, said he seeks to help both his patients and constituents alike, despite their beliefs.
“Let people speak for themselves, give them space to speak for themselves, and if they want to call something the ‘scam-demic,’ hey, man, like, what am I, how am I supposed to change your mind?” Bush said. “You don’t change their mind. You just keep them safe.”
Bush is running unopposed in the upcoming election. He hopes that health care will become more of a priority in the next legislative session and that representatives will start to put "the will of the people" first.
— Jordan Davis
John Martin
“It's been a very productive session on the House side,” said Rep. John Martin, R-Columbia.
Martin said his biggest accomplishment of the session was giving voters the opportunity to eliminate the income tax, which he said could put Missouri on the path of stronger economic growth. He was also proud of passing Senate Bill 888, which would increase prison time for some crimes and allow juveniles to be tried as adults for some felonies.
“I think that the most important role of government is public safety,” Martin said. “There's been various bills that have gone on to the governor, but I would say that's one of the top ways that we can strengthen public safety.”
Martin said that another highlight of the session was getting the state’s budget passed. He said that the state budget expanded in recent years due to federal funding from COVID-19, and this year they were able to trim it some.
He emphasized that even with trimming the budget, there is still work to be done.
“Honestly, I think there's areas where we've got a lot of expenses in that we could maybe reallocate some funds and focus a little more on K-12 education,” he said.
Martin served on the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee and the Appropriations subcommittee for education. He said he thinks of education as one of the top three government priorities alongside public safety and infrastructure.
One concern Martin had that could be causing a strain on the state budget was Missouri’s Medicaid expansion.
“It's the very first year that we're having to use general revenue dollars for the adult expansion group on Medicaid,” he said. “There’s about 360,000 people on that who are working age adults, and this year like $356 million is going towards that which is causing some strains.”
— Eric Hughes
Adrian Plank
For Rep. Adrian Plank, D-Columbia, getting bills passed this session has been difficult as a member of the minority party.
"Everything's strategic around here," he said. "This is the sports dome, as I like to call it. And it goes both ways."
House Bill 2097, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Rep. John Martin that incorporates Plank's HB 1905, which would expand agriculture education in elementary and secondary schools, was Plank's furthest advanced bill of the session.
The bill passed the Senate but was referred back to the House and ultimately was not passed before the session ended.
"The idea behind it (the bill) was to get kids involved in farming," Plank said. "We're losing about 8% of our farmers per year. ... So, in order to counter that, this is kind of a step toward that."
Looking forward, Plank expressed concern about the effect some of the House's recent budget cuts might have.
"The House cut a bunch of stuff like social programs for the elderly and disabled, which is kind of insane to me because we are seeing prices skyrocket right now," he said. "And so usually those people on fixed incomes struggle the most with that kind of stuff because you know, gas and food are more expensive."
Plank also expressed concern about what would happen if the income tax ballot initiative passes in November.
"They'll go to taxing goods and services, which is a bigger burden on income tax folks that don't pay the tax anyway, so they'll be paying more on top of the already high prices," he said. "They can be paying anywhere from 15 to 20% more on their goods and services that we don't pay anything on now."
"So it's really a transfer of tax burden from the rich to the poor," he added. "... It's just a horrible, horrible time to be raising prices on goods and services with the prices the way they are now."
Plank, who has filed for reelection this November, reflected on his time so far at the Capitol.
"I've learned to step back a little," he said. "I was hoping I'd come up here and make a huge amount of change and speak my mind. I've done that, and I don't mind doing that because it might tick some people off, but I'll gain respect from others for speaking my mind."
— Chase Pray
David Tyson Smith
Rep. David Tyson Smith, D-Columbia, described income tax elimination as an "atomic bomb" if approved by voters.
Income tax was a topic that Smith felt dominated this legislative session, with House Joint Resolution 173 putting state income tax on the chopping block for voters through a constitutional amendment.
Smith was among the 59 representatives to oppose HJR 173, which ultimately passed 95-59 on April 21.
Missourians will vote on eliminating income tax, which Smith said would cause sales tax to increase to pay for the loss of revenue from income taxes.
"People are having trouble surviving, food prices, gas prices, and now we're gonna start taxing food, potentially rent, medicine, the barbershop, it's too much," Smith said.
Smith pointed to HB 2372, an omnibus health care bill that included Smith's work on anesthesia protections, as a success this session. The bill states that insurance companies cannot place a time limit on anesthesia service coverage.
Smith pointed to the designation of June 28 as Eliot and Muriel Battle Day as another success this session. Smith worked with Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern to include Eliot and Muriel Battle Day alongside several other state designation days and months in SB 1544.
Looking ahead to the next legislative session, Smith said he wants to work toward securing relief for citizens by pushing for the elimination of state sales tax on groceries.
"I want to make sure that all citizens, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, left or right, you can afford groceries for your family," Smith said. "That's my priority.
One key takeaway Smith had from this session is that it is "imperative that we all step up to the plate and fight in our own way."
Smith pointed out that in this session, there were people who did not have Missourians' best interests at heart, but voters can prevent that from continuing.
"Everyone needs to do their part," Smith said. "Go to the ballot box, vote the right way."
— Erin Hynes
Kathy Steinhoff
Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, D-Columbia, said Democratic bills and efforts largely weren't given much consideration this past session.
"It is very clear that the D is on my back and makes it so that I can't get things done, even when it may be something that people think is a good idea," she said.
Because of the proposed major reforms to Missouri's property tax system, the Special Committee on Property Tax Reform was created and Steinhoff was asked to serve as the committee's minority leader.
The major property tax bill this session, Senate Bill 1066, failed to gain final passage. Early in the year, Steinhoff supported bills that have since been rolled into SB 1066. However, she voted against the bill in its final reading on the House floor.
Steinhoff said she thinks SB 1066 became too overloaded with property tax measures. Some of the ones she disagrees with are resetting the minimum school district levy and making any tax levy increase apply across all subclasses, or "silos."
The committee's work on the bill did yield provisions that Steinhoff liked because they help protect Missourians. Those include being able to pay a property tax bill in installments and easing the Homestead Act application process.
Steinhoff was also outspoken about education issues because of her background as a teacher. The state budget that passed underfunded Missouri public schools by $190 million, she said.
"We will see some schools that this will have a huge impact on," Steinhoff said. "And even the ones that it doesn't have a huge impact on, that just means that the local community is in some way going to have to either give up services or they're going to have to raise their local taxes in order to meet the demand."
The education bills that Steinhoff said stood out to her in committee this year dealt with regulating screen time, teaching cursive writing and mandating more physical education.
"We continue to see bills that add, add, add, add, add," she said. "And we're not giving (schools) more hours in the day. We're not giving them more money to do it."
Steinhoff added that she wants education legislation to focus instead on listening to the state's education departments and to understand that every school has different needs.
In the upcoming elections, Steinhoff is running unopposed. She said she wants to continue improving property taxes for Missourians and helping improve education legislation in the next term.
— Caroline Sweet