Mr. John Bowman, St. Louis County NAACP President and former State Representative for Missouri House District 70 was featured at the West County Democrats meeting. He framed his presentation as a series of questions to illustrate the incongruity, hypocrisy, and purposeless cruelty of the current administration’s actions. The discussion raised suggestions about how to resist the worst of times and restore the rule of law, but the overarching message was clear. These times unite us, engage us, and call us to action. Now is the time to be active, locked arm and arm with fellow Americans, and raise our voices on the street and at the polls.
Legislative Report April 14, 2025, Glenn Koenen
Federal Items:
The first rule of rollercoasters…You can’t get off in the middle of the ride. No matter how illegal, unethical, and just plain stupid Donald Trump acts he will be President of the United States until January 20, 2029. It is virtually inconceivable that Democrats could have the net gain of 21 Senate seats in 2026 to effect an impeachment.
As we have seen, elected Republicans fear the wrath of Donald. Note how even the most ardent antideficit hawks in the House of Representatives voted for a budget plan which all but guarantees $5 trillion in new debt during Trump’s term, money necessary to pay for the trillions in extended tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while mainstream GOP members voted for a plan which will cut billions from Medicaid, whack one-third off of food stamps and slash programs impacting over 200,000,000 citizens. Since the Supreme Court’s Republican majority remains very skittish about upsetting their god, well, they cannot be expected to be a reliable check on the continued abuses of power.
As noted by Rachel Maddow and others, the administration feels that they ought to have the power to detain non-citizens and in many cases citizens for their “expected beliefs” or “expected statements” they
might make. In other words, the FBI and other federal enforcement can be used as thought police. From there it should come as no surprise that Trump wants “His” Justice Department and federal resources to be used to prosecute and persecute his perceived political enemies.
And, having masked law enforcement pluck people off the street without warrants is cool. In today’s economy tariffs are a very regressive tax. Lower-income and middle-class families depend on grocery store items sourced from outside the USA: fresh produce in winter or Oreos and Ritz Crackers all year long. The majority of popular priced new cars come from ‘foreign nameplates’ (Nissan, Kia, Toyota and such) which even if assembled here contain substantial foreign-made parts. Likewise, most of the “Big Three” products contain considerable Canadian and/or Mexican parts as well as specialty items from
overseas.
The consensus seems to be that most average American households will endure an effective $2,500 ‘tax increase” unless the Trump tariffs are revoked.
The ability of the bureaucracy to work for Americans may not endure. While the cuts to Social Security and IRS staff have received a great deal of attention, food inspectors and USDA field staff as well as tens of thousands of people across scores of government agencies have been let go or feel forced to take brass parachutes. The lost expertise cannot and will not be replaced under the Trump – Musk regime. It will take decades to return to the level of service available before Trump’s inauguration.
A Few Words About Elon
Elon Musk’s grandfather moved his family to South Africa because he liked apartheid and a society which prohibited equality. Grandpa was a Brave New World kind of guy. Take the time to track down Jill LePore’s profile of Elon’s upbringing from the April 6, 2025 New York Times.
State Items:
The Missouri House of Representatives has passed a Fiscal Year 2026 Budget and sent it to the Senate. The proposal came in over $5 billion below Governor Mike Kehoe’s lean recommendation. Among the “highlights”
• Just $200 million added to the Foundation Formula. Kehoe wanted $300 million and true full funding would require in excess of $450 million in new money.
• $50 million for “Empowerment Scholarships,” state general revenue given to parents for private school tuition (in addition to tax credits for the same purpose).
• A 6.8% pay jump for the Highway Patrol. Most other state workers will get less than 3%.
• $90 million in General Revenue for earmarked highway projects.
• $2 million in General Revenue for Pregnancy Resource Center grants. This is in addition to federal Temporary Assistance Block Grant funds and tax credits to the centers.
By the way, under consideration is expanding the centers’ tax credit to 100% of tax owed, up to $50,000 per taxpayer.
It appears the more drastic repeal of Amendment 3 language will prevail — only allowing abortion in cases where rape or incest has been reported to law enforcement within 72 hours of occurrence, or, as the only way to save a woman’s life.
The legislature is moving ahead with a great many bad ideas. While the St. Louis City Police take over has received a great deal of attention, efforts to restrict library book purchases (in public and school locations); initiative petition restrictions; workers comp restrictions; protecting corporations from lawsuits; weakening building codes (to allow more affordable housing); banning DEI, and, of course, anti-trans laws are also in the mix.
Here’s a strange one, House Bill 875: “Under this new law, public colleges and universities cannot discriminate against these organizations based on their leadership requirements, beliefs, or standards of conduct.” (GOP 2/27/25 summary) In other words, groups banning membership based on gender, religion, race and such would be allowed.
Traditionally debate in the Missouri Senate is a gentile endeavor. Rules require that all address each other as ‘Senator,’ that actual names are not to be used and voices cannot be raised. What a Senator said was to be fact-based – which is why so many filibusters included the reading of books on the floor or discussions of Major League Baseball.
Bill Eigel and Bob Onder (with help from others) bucked tradition. It is now a memory. For example, on April 8th Senator Jill Carter (R – Newton Co.) declared that DEI “permeated” the state’s public schools and that was a greater threat than any lack of money. “Out of state” “Third Parties” control Missouri schools as they try to ‘facilitate’ learning away from ‘Missouri values.’ She was questioned hard by another conservative GOP Senator, though Newton would not be derailed. To stop this on-going atrocity, her Senate Bill 360 would allow school districts to pick alternative groups to accredit them instead of the Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education and those they sanction.