Glenn Koenen Legislative Report December 13, 2021
Federal Items:
The national Democratic Party is headquartered at 430 S Capitol Street, SE in Washington.
The national Republican Party is headquartered at 1100 East Blue Heron Boulevard in Rivera Beach.
Despite what Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy assert, they have no control over their party, no, all operational oversight comes via a handful of faithful (and not too bright) acolytes who convey the “real President’s” wishes to his faithful in Congress and about the country.
Note how McConnell could not get agreement in his party to avoid a vote to close down the government before Christmas. The best the Senate Minority Leader could do? Get a total of nine mostly sane GOP senators to support a “loophole” to allow the government funding bill to be considered by the Senate with just Democratic (50 plus 1) votes. That is what passes for leadership among the Republicans.
In short, expect nothing of consequence from Congress and avoid disappointment.
And, these are the good old days.
Most handicappers expect the Republicans to pick-up about 20 House seats and four Senate seats in the 2022 election. Part of the House gains will come from gerrymandering allowed by the conservative-dominated Supreme Court. Alas, stark and persistent misinformation in the media and the large number of voting Republicans who actually believe that the 2020 election was stolen will probably lead to a record turnout by the voters GOP leadership wants to allow to vote. Groups trending Democratic will face new hardships as they try to vote.
The Supreme Court is expected to hand Republicans several victories before the current term ends. Even is abortion is not specifically prohibit-able at the state level, the reality will be moot. Also in the wings are anti-labor decisions, weakening of gun regulations, and, indirect support for state sovereignty.
Missouri’s Second Amendment Preservation Act, for example, may pass muster with the court, meaning a state can penalize its own law enforcement for cooperating with federal law enforcement. (This is not a drill: the lawyer for the man accused of shooting as Metro bus driver claims evidence linker his client to the weapon used can’t be admitted into the court record because the Major Case Squad received help from the FBI.)
Many international analysts expect Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine in coming weeks. The U.S. will let that happen. Despite the President’s trough talk, the Biden Administration will get no support from the GOP in backstopping our ally in a confrontation with Trump’s friend.
A recent study found meat packers saw their profits increase 300% during the pandemic. Fox News, of course, blames the Biden administration for high meat prices.
State Items:
Legislators began pre-filing bills on December 1st. Among those likely to prevail…
House Bill 1451 Makes January 12 Rush Limbaugh Day
HB 1450 Must be registered with party to vote in primary, and, provide more personal info to state to become a voter
HB 1476 Reverts control of St. Louis City Police back to state
HB 1477 One of several to expand Stand Your Ground
HB 1483 Election interference by creating state-level control of elections and prohibiting mist voting by mail or prior to election day
HB 1502 Creates a crime out of failure to identify yourself when asked
HB 1552 Exempts guns and ammo from sales taxes
HB 1621 Requires fathers to pay child support from time of conception
HB 1639 Allows MO House and administration to not enforce presidential orders deemed unconstitutional
In addition, a dozen ‘pro-Covid’ bills forbidding “discrimination” against the unmasked or un-vaccinated have already been proposed.
And, from the Senate, two chilling proposals…
Senate Bill 666 Effectively allows a Missouri Kyle Rittenhouse to not be charged
SB 946 Creates the mostly secret volunteer “minutemen” who carry out tasks assigned by the governor – and don’t have to register their weapons!
Yes, a rural state senator wants to give Mike Parson his own secret police.
Redistricting at all levels in Missouri can be described in two words. The first is “cluster.” The all-Republican court in Cole County deciding the boundaries for state House and Senate districts might only be avoided if the GOP proposes maps so bad – under the Supreme Court’s accepting rulings – that they trigger federal review. The Congressional districts will not even begin to be drawn until the first week in January. Rumors point to a GOP effort to reduce Missouri to just one Democrat in Congress.
Medicaid expansion is turning out just as bad as some of us expected:
► Average wait time on calls to the Department of Social Services topped three hours in November;
► The state is transferring pregnant women over age 21 and other subgroups into the Adult
Expansion Group to boost the numbers.
► Medical care providers comp[lain they are not getting answers to questions; and,
► By the end of October just 14,005 adults (out of 300,000+) had joined the rolls.
For many years Missouri had a true independent advocate for children within the DSS system. That advocate has been replaced with a Republican House member from Jefferson County with a background in real estate.