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The Week of March 10, 2025

On the Floor

This week, the Senate began discussion on the following bills:

Additionally, the Senate third read and passed the following legislation:

Finally, three bills were truly agreed to and finally passed this week. 

FY 2025 appropriations

House Bill 14 appropriates supplemental funds for the 2025 Fiscal Year budget. Much of the additional spending authority was necessary because, in my opinion, the Legislature significantly underfunded the state’s Medicaid program and numerous other spending items well below anticipated costs for year.

State control of St. Louis Police Department

House Bill 495 creates a governor-appointed, Senate-confirmed board that will give the state control over the operation of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD). Last week, I offered an amendment to add the public safety measures I have filed this session:

Out of these bills, only SB 192 was added to HB 495. Additionally, we were also able to ensure that pension and retirement costs are excluded from the minimum appropriations to support the police force, meaning those important funds can stay intact, separate from the funds used to run the department.

The state originally took control of the St. Louis police at the outset of the Civil War in 1861 as Missouri’s pro-session governor and state Legislature sought to limit the power of Union-leaning city officials and suppress the city’s Black population. Missouri voters finally restored control of the department to local officials following passage of a statewide ballot measure in 2012 with nearly 64% in support.

House Bill 495 essentially overturns that vote and places the police department under the authority of a board of commissions consisting of five voting members, four of whom to be appointed by the governor with the St. Louis mayor filling the final slot. The structure is similar to the state board that already runs the Kansas City Police Department. As with state control in Kansas City, local taxpayers will remain fully responsible for funding the police department but have no say over how it operates. The governor has made ending local control of the St. Louis police a top priority for his first year in office and could sign the bill into law at any time. House Bill 495 contains an emergency clause allowing the portions of the bill regarding the St. Louis police to take effect immediately upon being signed instead of the usual effective date of Aug. 28. As a result, there will be no transition period between local and state governance of the department.

The numerous other provisions of HB 495 include prohibiting stunt driving on public roads, cracking down on organized retail theft, requiring law enforcement agencies to report the immigration status of criminal offenders, banning the use of restraints on pregnant prisoners in their third trimester and establishing the Missing and Murdered African-American Women and Girls Task Force.

My colleagues and I fought for the city of St. Louis to keep control over their police department. The people have spoken on this issue and we should honor their decision. We deserve the opportunity to hold local leaders accountable for the actions they take regarding the SLMPD, not a state board. I was hopeful my colleagues would understand how we feel, stand for Missourians who made their voice heard on this issue and vote against this bill, but unfortunately, that was not the case. I am deeply disappointed with this outcome, but I remain committed to fighting for our community.

Utilities

The Missouri House of Representatives on March 13 voted 96-44, with three lawmakers voting “present,” to give final approval to controversial omnibus utilities legislation supporters say is vital to modernizing and upgrading services in the state, but that critics contend will unjustly impose massive rate increases on customers to enrich investors. The bill, which the Senate previously approved on a vote of 22-11, now goes to the governor to be signed into law.

Consumer advocates argue Senate Bill 4 will cause the average customer’s electric bill to increase by more than $1,100 a year, with the burden falling heaviest on low-income and elderly Missourians who can’t afford such a large jump. Investor-owned utilities, along with business and labor organizations, concede bills will go up, though by a substantially lower amount, and argue customers will benefit in the long run from a much more reliable power grid and the jobs and economic activity created by building new facilities.

A main provision of SB 4 would authorize power companies to charge customers upfront for so-called “construction work in progress,” circumventing a nearly 50-year-old, voter-approved prohibition against power utilities passing on the cost of building new facilities until they are online and generating power.

Another contentious provision would allow the Missouri Public Service Commission, the regulatory authority for the state’s investor-owned utilities, to set rates based on a company’s predicted costs of providing service in a “future test year.” The PSC traditionally has based rates on a company’s actual costs in previous years. A third major section of the bill would change the accounting rules to make it easier for utilities companies to recover costs. 

Bills and Committees

Senator May’s Legislation:

Senate Bill 192 was passed by the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee on Monday, March 10. Additionally, the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee passed Senate Bill 18 on March 12. 

Additionally, two of my bills were added to the consent calendar, meaning it is noncontroversial legislation and was passed unanimously by the committee to which it was referred. Senate Bill 110 would designate the week of January 5 each year as “Kappa Alpha Psi Week” in Missouri. Senate Bill 111 would designate September every year as "Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month" in Missouri. 

Judiciary Committee:

The committee heard several bills this week:

Commerce Committee:

The committee heard two bills this week. Senate Bill 239 would create a post-consumer paint recycling program. Senate Bill 386 would create a community solar pilot program, allowing private companies to operate a community solar facility that customers may utilize to receive a credit on their electric bill.

Other News

House advances $1.3 billion income tax cut to Senate

The Missouri House of Representatives on March 12 voted 100-53 in favor of yet another major income tax cut – this time reducing the state’s top rate from 4.7% to 3.7% and costing the state another $1.3 billion in lost revenue. The Legislature has already significantly reduced individual income taxes in recent years from the 6% rate the state had levied since the early 1970s.

House Bill 798 passed on a largely party-line vote, with just a few members of the majority party joining the minority party in opposition. It now advances to the Senate, where a separate bill to eliminate the state capital gains tax on investment income that had already cleared the House was set aside on March 11 amid unexpected bipartisan opposition. That legislation, House Bill 594, would cost the state an estimated $334 million a year in lost revenue while benefiting only about 0.2% of taxpayers.

Because Missouri’s tax brackets have never been adjusted for inflation, Missouri has long had a de facto flat tax, with all taxpayers earning more than $9,000 a year paying the highest rate. In addition to further slashing that rate, HB 798 would create an actual flat tax by doing away with the lower rates paid by those earning less than $9,000, thus applying the highest rate to everyone. The bill also would completely eliminate the Missouri Working Family Tax Credit, which provides tax relief to roughly 180,000 low-income Missouri families.

Majority party moves to eliminate voter-approved sick leave mandate

A state law Missouri voters just approved in November requiring most employers offer paid sick leave to their workers would be repealed under legislation the Missouri House of Representatives approved on March 13 on a largely party-line vote of 96-51, with all but two members of the majority party in support and all members of the minority party opposed. The bill now advances to the Senate.

However, because the House voted down an emergency clause that would have allowed House Bill 567 to take effect immediately upon being signed into law by the governor, the ballot measure’s sick leave provisions will still take effect May 1 as scheduled – only to be repealed on Aug. 28 if the bill becomes law. The emergency clause, which required a two-thirds supermajority of 109 votes for passage, failed on a vote of 84-62.

Nearly 58% of Missouri voters approved the sick leave provisions a little over four months ago as part of Proposition A, which also raises the state’s minimum wage in two steps from $12.30 an hour to $15 an hour. The first minimum wage bump, to $13.75 an hour, took effect Jan. 1, with the second slated to kick in on Jan. 1, 2026, to take the wage floor to $15 an hour.

Although HB 567 would not stop the second minimum wage increase from taking effect as scheduled, the bill would repeal a requirement that that state’s minimum wage be adjusted annually based on inflation. That requirement has been in state law since 2006 and was not new to Proposition A.

House sends public school open enrollment bill to Senate

The Missouri House of Representatives voted 88-69 on March 11 to authorize a system of so-called “open enrollment” under which students could attend a public school in a district other than the one in which they reside. The bill now advances to the Senate.

House Bill 711 would create a voluntary system under which public school districts could opt-in to accepting transfer students from other districts. To minimize the impact on districts losing students, the bill would set a 3% cap on how many of a particular district’s students can transfer to another district.

Supporters of the bill contend it would create a school choice option within the context of traditional public schools. Opponents are concerned it could weaken financially struggling school districts by siphoning off students – and the state revenue that would follow them to their new districts. They are also worried that within a couple years the Legislature could make open enrollment mandatory instead of voluntary.

Net state general revenue down 1.4% so far in FY 2025

Year-to-date net state general revenue collections decreased 1.4% through the first eight months of the 2025 fiscal year compared to the same period in FY 2024, going from $8.42 billion last year to $8.3 billion this year. Net revenues had been down 2.2% through the first seven months of the fiscal year.

Net general revenue collections for February 2025 increased 5.9% compared to those for February 2024, going from $830.3 million year last to $879.1 million this year. Growth in sales and use tax collections for the month helped offset a continuing decline in income tax revenue brought on by a series of legislatively enacted tax cuts.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Thank you for your interest in the legislative process. I look forward to hearing from you on the issues that are important to you this legislative session. If there is anything my office can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact my office at 573-751-3599.