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The Week of Week of May 5, 2025

On the Floor

This week, the Senate discussed the following bills:

Senate sets aside bill purporting to nullify federal gun laws

After several hours of debate, the Missouri Senate shelved – at least for now – controversial legislation that attempts to resurrect a 2021 state law that a federal appellate court ruled unconstitutional for declaring many federal gun laws unenforceable in the state. However, the Senate could still return to the measure before the 2025 legislative session ends on May 16.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the 2021 version of law unconstitutional in August, agreeing with a lower court that it violates the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which holds federal law trumps contrary state laws. Although supporters of the current legislation, House Bill 1175, claim it has been modified from the earlier version to withstand judicial scrutiny, it still purports to declare a litany of federal laws and regulations restricting firearms to be invalid in Missouri, which is precisely what the 8th Circuit said the state cannot do.

House Bill 1175 also contains a provision authorizing those arrested or convicted of a federal gun crime to sue local police departments for civil fines of $50,000 per occurrence for assisting federal law enforcement in investigations. In addition, it would prohibit local governments from hiring – in any capacity – former federal officers who previously enforced gun laws. These provisions also were included in the unconstitutional 2021 legislation. 

The House of Representatives previously approved HB 1175 in March by a vote of 100-51, with just three members of the majority party joining the unanimous minority party in opposition. Senate leaders set the bill aside after members of the minority party filibustered to prevent the measure from coming to a final vote.

Additionally, the following bills were third read and passed by the Senate:

Finally, the following bills were truly agreed to and finally passed by the General Assembly this week. They have been sent to the governor’s desk for his consideration.

Legislature finishes state budget hours ahead of deadline

On May 9, lawmakers rushed to finish the $49.82 billion state operating budget for the 2026 fiscal year just hours ahead of a hard constitutional deadline. If we had missed this deadline, we would have to start the process over in a special legislative session to ensure the state has the legal authority to spend taxpayer money when the new fiscal year begins July 1.

This marks the seventh consecutive year that gamesmanship between members of the majority party in the Senate and House pushed the final passage of the various appropriations bills that make up the budget to the brink of busting the deadline. 

However, the House, in a surprising move, did not vote on $513 million in capital improvement funding in HB 19, after the Senate made changes to one bill earlier in the day. Since the Senate had already adjourned for the day by that point, there was no way to return the bill to the upper chamber for changes by the deadline.

Big-ticket items in the bill included $50 million for construction of a Radioisotope Science Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia, $55 million for improvements at the Missouri State Fairgrounds and $35 million for National Guard facilities, plus a host of smaller projects throughout the state. Because the abandoned bill isn’t part of the state operating budget, its failure won’t impact the delivery of services by state agencies in the upcoming fiscal year.

Education funding proved a key point of dispute on the operating budget. While the Senate, supported by members of the minority party in the House, wanted to fund local public school districts at the level called for by state law, the governor’s budget request would have left K-12 education $300 million short of the amount calculated by the Foundation Formula. For the first time in state history, the governor asked for $50 million in direct public funding for private schools – spending authority supported by members of the majority party in the House but opposed by members of the minority party in the House and a bipartisan group in the Senate.

In the final compromise, the budget fully funds K-12 public schools while also providing the requested amount of taxpayer funding for private schools. The latter appropriation, however, is likely to face a court challenge for violating a state constitutional prohibition against providing direct taxpayer funding to private individuals or organizations.

The budget also includes $107 million for child care subsidies, spending authority the governor recommended and the Senate supported, but that the House had omitted. In addition, public colleges and universities will get a 3% increase in their core operating budgets, instead of the 1.5% bump requested by the governor and endorsed by the House.

The governor has until June 30 to sign the appropriations bills into law while making any line-item vetoes to reduce or eliminate spending authority he doesn’t support. However, the Missouri Constitution prohibits the governor from reducing “…any appropriation for free public schools.” As a result, he has no authority to reject the additional $300 million for K-12 schools the Legislature appropriated over his objections.

Bills and Committees

Appropriations Committee:

The committee heard the following bills this week:

Other News

House sends elimination of capital gains tax to the governor

The Missouri House of Representatives on May 7 sent expansive tax-cutting legislation to the governor that would cost the state an estimated $440 million in lost revenue while reducing local revenue by another $31 million. The bill cleared the legislature on a final House vote of 102-41, with 10 members voting “present.”

As originally approved by the House in February, House Bill 594 focused on eliminating state taxes on income derived from capital gains, such as the sale of stocks and investment property. That portion of the bill alone carries a nearly $335 million a year annual cost to the state and primarily would benefit wealthy Missourians.

To overcome Senate resistance to another tax cut for the rich, however, the upper chamber added some popular provisions long advocated for by members of the minority party to provide tax relief to lower-income Missourians. One expands the “circuit breaker” tax credit that helps offset property taxes for elderly or disabled homeowners and renters. The other would eliminate the 4.225% state sales tax on feminine hygiene products and diapers.

The Senate voted 27-6 to approve its version of HB 594 last month. After sitting on the measure for several weeks, the House ultimately accepted the Senate changes to grant the bill final passage. The governor is expected to sign it into law.

Appellate court sides with AG in medical records case

The Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District ruled May 6 that Planned Parenthood must comply with the attorney general’s demand for records regarding medical treatment provided to minor patients receiving gender-affirming care.

The attorney general issued a civil investigative demand to Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis affiliate in 2023 as part of a probe into whether the Washington University Pediatric Transgender Center violated the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, a state law typically used to prosecute deceptive business practices or defective products.

Planned Parenthood sued, claiming the attorney general’s demand wasn’t authorized under the MMPA, would require it to violate federal patient privacy laws and is without legal basis since Planned Parenthood isn’t the target of the attorney general’s investigation. While a St. Louis Circuit Court Judge sided with Planned Parenthood on the patient privacy issue, he generally upheld the attorney general’s authority to demand the records under the MMPA. Both sides appealed the judge’s ruling.

In an opinion, the three-judge panel ruled in the attorney general’s favor on all counts, noting that his civil investigative demand gives Planned Parenthood the opportunity to withhold privileged documents.

“Because we find that the CID seeks neither privileged information nor protected health information, as the AG requests a privilege log and appropriate redactions, we remand the cause to the trial to enter an order directing (Planned Parenthood) to respond to the CID in a manner compliant with relevant Missouri and federal law,” the opinion states.

The case is Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region & Southwest Missouri v. Andrew Bailey.

Lawmaker resigns for federal job

State Rep. Ben Baker resigned May 4 to accept an appointment from the president’s administration to serve as the Missouri state director of rural development for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Representative Baker was serving his fourth and final term in the Missouri House of Representatives and could not seek re-election next year due to term limits. He was first elected to the legislature in 2018.

Representative Baker’s legislative seat representing a portion of Newton County in southwest Missouri will remain vacant until after the next general election in November 2026 unless the governor calls a special election to fill it earlier. However, another House seat in south St. Louis County previously held by a member of the majority party has been vacant since January and the governor has made no move to call a special election for it.

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.