Senator Karla May's May Report for the Week of Feb. 2, 2026
Friday, February 6, 2026
The Week of Feb. 2, 2026 |
On the Floor The following bills were discussed on the Senate floor this week:
The Senate third read and passed Senate Bill 937, which would authorize the conveyance of certain state property.
The Senate adopted Senate Resolution 640, which modifies Senate Rule 52 to require Senate bills with House amendments and conference committee substitutes to lie on the table for one day before being acted upon by the Senate. The resolution further modifies Senate Rule 84 to provide that a motion for the previous question must be admitted upon the written demand of 18, rather than the previous minimum of 10, senators.
Bills and Committees Senator May’s Legislation: This week, I was proud to present Senate Bill 945 to the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Currently, any circuit court may collect a civil case filing surcharge of an amount not to exceed $15 for the maintenance of a law library, the county's or circuit's family services and justice fund, or courtroom renovation and technology enhancement. This bill allows the circuit court in the City of St. Louis to charge a filing surcharge up to $20.
Judiciary Committee:
Commerce Committee:
Appropriations Committee: The following departments and offices shared their funding requests for the Fiscal Year 2027 state operating budget in this week’s hearing:
Other News City of St. Louis extends application deadline for private property assistance to Feb. 28 On Feb. 5, the City of St. Louis announced that the deadline to apply for private property assistance has been extended from Feb. 14 to Feb. 28 to give residents more time to complete applications and receive help correcting missing or incomplete information. Additionally, the city will continue to remove tornado debris placed by the curb until Feb. 28.
Private property assistance includes stabilization, repair work up to $50,000, demolitions and debris removal.
Applying early is strongly encouraged. Many applications require follow-up or additional documentation, and submitting early allows recovery staff time to review applications and work with residents before the final deadline.
Property owners can apply at app.stlrecovers.com or by visiting the STLRecovers Outreach Center at 4401 Natural Bridge Ave., which is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. For assistance by phone, call 833-925-0977.
To provide an additional avenue for applying, the Recovery Office is holding a community meeting and resource fair on Monday, Feb. 17, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the O’Fallon Park Rec Complex.
At this resource fair, residents can receive help completing their private property assistance application and connect with resources for shelter, housing, legal assistance, food, utilities, home repairs and mental health support.
What to bring
The following documents may be required if applicable:
Residents who are unsure whether they qualify or need help gathering documents are encouraged to apply or attend an in-person event.
Additional community neighborhood pop-up events are coming and will be announced soon.
Residents can find more information about private property assistance, including demolitions, debris removal, stabilizations and repairs, at the STLRecovers FAQ page.
Right-of-way debris removal to continue through Feb. 28 To give residents additional time to place tornado debris at the curb for pickup, the city has also extended the right-of-way debris removal program to Feb. 28. The city has continuously removed tornado debris that residents place by the curb since the tornado. This is separate from private property debris removal, which requires an application to the private property assistance program, as the city cannot enter private property to clear debris without a right-of-entry agreement.
House committee advances regulations for unlicensed slots On Feb. 2, the House Emerging Issues Committee voted 8-5 to advance legislation to legalize – and eventually regulate and tax – unlicensed video slot machines, which have proliferated at gas stations, bars and other locations around Missouri over the last decade. However, the bill would allow the machines to continue to operate unregulated for another two years.
Both the Missouri Gaming Commission, which oversees the state’s licensed casinos, and the State Highway Patrol consider the machines, known as video lottery terminals (VLTs), to be illegal gaming devices under existing state law. While some local prosecutors have successfully brought cases against VLT companies, most have chosen not to, claiming they fall into a legal gray area.
House Bill 2989 would grant authority for regulating and licensing VLTs to the Missouri Lottery Commission. It also would limit the number of gaming machines allowed at a single location and require them to be in a separate area of the establishment that isn’t accessible to children. In addition, it would set tax rates and impose licensing fees on VLT operators.
The House of Representatives barely approved similar legislation last year on a vote of 83-73 – mustering just one more vote than the constitutionally required minimum for passage. However, the bill died in the Senate.
Missouri lawmakers have deadlocked for years over how to best address VLTs, with some wanting to make it clear the machines are banned under the law while others prefer to regulate and tax them. During the prolonged inaction, VLTs have continued to spread to the point that officials with the Lottery Commission have attributed a drop in lottery proceeds to competition from the untaxed slot machines in many of the same establishments were lottery tickets are sold.
State collected just $521,000 in first month of sports betting Legalized sports betting generated just $521,200 in tax revenue for state government during its first month, despite Missourians wagering an eye-popping $543 million on sporting events during that period, according to a report issued Jan. 30 by the Missouri Gaming Commission.
Missouri voters ratified a state constitutional amendment authorizing sports gambling in the state in 2024 by a narrow margin, with the measure winning by just 2,961 votes out of more than 2.95 million cast. Once regulations were established, sports book operators started accepting bets on Dec. 1.
After unsuccessfully lobbying Missouri lawmakers to legalize sports gambling, industry supporters put the issue directly before voters via an initiative petition. They argued legalized wagering would generate substantial new revenue constitutionally earmarked for education.
However, opponents warned that because of generous tax deductions the industry wrote for itself in the constitutional amendment, minimal tax revenue would be generated. The official fiscal estimate for the measure estimated annual revenue would range from a low of $0 to a high of $28.9 million.
Because gambling companies are allowed to deduct from their state tax liability their federal taxes and the value of promotional credits and merchandise offered as incentives to customers, most companies ended the month with a negative balance – including major players such as DraftKings and FanDuel. According to the Gaming Commission report, all sportsbook companies combined claimed nearly $563.8 million in deductions – about $20.76 million more than the amount of wagers placed.
Since companies are allowed to carry over negative balances from month to month, it increases the possibility that those companies will continue to owe nothing in state taxes.
House votes to restrict deceptive campaign fundraising On Feb. 4, the Missouri House of Representatives granted first-round approval to legislation that targets an ethically questionable campaign fundraising practice that lures people into making small monthly donations that are automatically charged to their credit cards and, over time, can cost the unwitting donor thousands of dollars.
House Bill 1788 is likely in response to news reports about the fundraising tactics of a former state senator who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2024 and is currently campaigning for a local county office.
House Bill 1788 would require all solicitations for campaign donations to identify “in a clear and conspicuous manner” the committee receiving the donation and mandate that donors must affirmatively opt in to any recurring contribution. The House approved HB 1788 on a voice vote. A second, recorded vote is required to advance the measure to the Senate.
Attorney general files lawsuit to ‘redo’ 2020 U.S. Census On Jan. 30, the Missouri attorney general filed a federal lawsuit asking a court to declare a “redo” of the 2020 U.S. Census to exclude non-citizen residents – legal or not – from being counted and extend the exclusion to the next Census in 2030.
The U.S. Constitution says the “whole number” of people in the country shall be counted during the decennial Census, and the U.S. Supreme Court consistently has ruled that means an actual head count of all residents, regardless of citizenship status. Alabama attempted a similar lawsuit in 2018, but after kicking around in court for a while, it fizzled out and was withdrawn in 2021.
Census results determine how the 435 congressional seats are allocated among the states and have significant influence on how much federal money each state receives. States also typically use the Census in drawing state legislative seats. Excluding non-citizens could have a disproportionate impact on rural areas, where losses in an official population count would be felt more acutely than in densely populated urban areas.
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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. |