I haven't updated this thread lately because there hasn't been much to report. The General Assembly has one more week before "Spring Break," when they'll take a week off. The past couple of weeks the House has been passing bills and the Senate has managed to move some non-controversial stuff. Next week they're supposed to take up the education bill so there should be some fireworks.

A couple of developments of interest to gun owners:

Senate Bill 754 passed out of the Senate and moved to the House. This is shaping up to be this year's omnibus "crime bill." If it relates to crime or sentencing, expect it to be added to this bill. This is basically a redux of last year's SB 189 which the governor vetoed, citing problems with conviction expungement provisions. Like last year's bill, SB 754 includes "Blair's Law," which makes celebratory gunfire illegal. The bill also increases penalties for armed criminal action by a prior offender. Four members of the Freedom Caucus voted against the bill (as did several Democrats). During the caucus' end-of-the-week presser, Sen. Rick Brattin said he was concerned Blair's Law might prevent people from engaging in target shooting on their own property (which he said he and his kids do). ETA: See my follow-up post for the text of Blair's Law

Senate Bill 998, Sen. Denny Hoskins' anti-red flag law bill, had a hearing in the  Public Safety Committee. The Western Missouri Shooters Alliance and one citizen testified in support. Moms Demand Action and a lobbyist for the City of St. Louis testified in opposition. ETA: See my follow-up post for links to similar anti-red flag law bills introduced this year.

Again, there's one week before spring break. Traditionally, there's a big push to get bills moving before the recess so a lot could happen next week.

As I mentioned in the post above, "Blair's Law" is included as a provision of SB754, which passed the Senate and awaits action by the House. This law passed last year but didn't take effect because the governor vetoed the bill that contained it. FWIW, the governor said his veto was about other provisions, not the Blair's Law. Here's the text of Blair's Law, as advanced by the Senate:

571.031. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as "Blair's Law".

2. A person commits the offense of unlawful discharge of a firearm if he or she recklessly discharges a firearm within or into the limits of any municipality.

3. This section shall not apply if the firearm is discharged:
(1) As allowed by a defense of justification under chapter 563;
(2) On a shooting range that is:
     (a) Indoor;
     (b) Owned or operated by the state or any political subdivision;
     (c) A commercial shooting range, including any range used by paying members; and
     (d) Supervised by any person eighteen years of age or older;
(3) To lawfully take wildlife during an open season established by the department of conservation. Nothing in this subdivision shall prevent a municipality from adopting an ordinance restricting the discharge of a firearm within one-quarter mile of an occupied structure;
(4) For the control of nuisance wildlife as permitted by the department of conservation or the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
(5) By special permit of the chief of police of the municipality;
(6) As required by an animal control officer in the performance of his or her duties;
(7) Using blanks;
(8) More than one mile from any occupied structure;
(9) In self-defense or defense of another person against an imminent or ongoing animal attack unless the self-defense or defense of another person is a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation to protect oneself or the other person from such animal attack and such person shall not have a duty to retreat;
(10) In defense of a domestic animal against an imminent or ongoing animal attack, unless the defense of the domestic animal is a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation to protect a domestic animal from attack; or
(11) By law enforcement personnel, as defined in section 590.1040, or a member of the United States Armed Forces if acting in an official capacity.

4. A person who commits the offense of unlawful discharge of a firearm shall be guilty of:
(1) For a first offense, a class A misdemeanor;
(2) For a second offense, a class E felony; and
(3) For a third or subsequent offense, a class D felony.

Regarding the anti-red flag bill sponsored by Sen. Hoskins mentioned above. This is one of four similar (perhaps identical) bills introduced this year. Those are Rep. Christensen's House bill 1651, Rep. Hardwick's House Bill 2656, Hoskins' Senate Bill 998, and Eigel's Senate Bill 1004.

So far, only Hoskins' bill has received a committee hearing.

FWIW, there were also four anti-red flag law bills in 2023. The two House bills got hearings. One House bill received a "Do Pass" committee vote but no further action was taken. Neither of the Senate bills got a hearing last year.

If anyone cares, the legislature returns from spring break this week. Eight weeks remain in the regular session.

Here's a mid-session recap:

Columbia Missourian: Stall tactics and chaos: Unraveling the first half of the legislative session

ETA: and a couple of previews of the remaining eight weeks:

Missouri Independent: Budget, Medicaid funding could dominate final weeks of Missouri legislative session

STL NPR: 4 things to watch for in the second half of the 2024 Missouri legislative session

Any thoughts on the fact Rowden is stepping down and dropping his run for Secretary of State.

What make you think Rowden is "stepping down"? I know he decided not to run for secretary of state, but I hadn't heard anything beyond that. There's only eight week left in the session and he's term-limited after this year. I can't imagine him leaving before his term is up.

I would only be speculating on why he decided to forego the SOS run. I assume he either realized there's no lane for moderate Republicans these days, or he was simply tired of all the BS and didn't want to mess with it anymore.

I didn't realize he was term limited. I just saw his post on Twitter.

Yep. In Missouri, legislators are limited to four terms in the House (8 years) and two terms in the Senate (8 years). Rowden was elected to the Senate in 2016.

There is an interesting discussion going on in the legislature that may have an impact on gun rights. The short version is that a bill to expand subsidies for private schools (and home education) includes a provision that declares any home school to be a "school" under state law. The wrinkle in that is that it's a crime to possess guns in schools. There is a concern that any family who home schools their kids but also has guns in the home could run afoul of the law. It's probably more complicated than that, but that's the basics. If you're paying attention to this year's session, you may want to get up to speed on this one. Senate Bill 727

I don't know anything about this source, but here's a web site that expresses concerns about the bill and its impact on gun rights: https://www.mofirst.org/issues/education/Drafting-Error-in-SB727-Outlaws-Guns-in-Homeschools.php

Another link: https://americanmilitarynews.com/2024/04/video-pics-gun-owners-may-face-felony-for-homeschooling-report/

The Missouri Firearms Coalition has stated there's nothing to worry about, but if you know the history of that group and its founders you'll know they are solidly in the home-school camp. https://www.missourifirearmscoalition.org/state-legislation/mofcs-position-on-sb-727-and-your-gun-rights/

Also, here's a letter that addresses whether the 2A protections in Missouri's constitution are worth the paper they're written on:
https://www.mofirst.org/issues/education/Roland-on-SB727-the-Right-to-Keep-and-Bear-Arms-and-Missouri-Courts.pdf

Again, I don't know what to think and I'm not expressing an opinion. It may be a legit concern, or it may be a nothing burger. For all I know the public school people spread the guns in school theory just to turn conservatives against the bill. I just don't know, but I wanted to make people aware of what's going on.

Competition would do public schools good, and yes, in my opinion people are just trying to use fear over guns to derail Missouri school choice.

I don't see how Dorr at MFC would support a bill that would criminalize homeschooling and guns when he admits to having homeschooled 7 kids.

Need proof about the lie about the Federal enforcement that's also been circulating? Look at all the other states with expanded school choice and note the lack any issues for homeschooling involving guns.

That's a federal law though.  So unless the [home] "school" got some sort of federal subsidy, the feds wouldn't be able to call it a "school" right?  Either way, glad somebody caught that--they'll get it worked out.

Again, I don't know much about this issue or the legislation, but I am aware that some home-school advocates oppose voucher programs specifically because they believe accepting any government money exposes them to state and federal oversight. State education programs get money from the federal government so (in theory) it's possible to link money from D.C. all the way down to the kitchen table classroom once vouchers put the camel's nose under the tent.

I understand the theory behind the voucher bill fears... but pragmatically speaking... this is stupid.  Accept a homeschool voucher and suddenly your house can't have firearms?  This is an absurd red herring.  

@Bladeswitcher thanks for keeping this thread going.  It's nice to hear what's going on.

Just reading the X chatter, it sounds like opposition to the school voucher bill is growing. A couple of the home school advocacy groups are no longer neutral and are now opposing passage. That's probably not surprising given all the Democrat-sponsored amendments the Republicans had to accept in order to end the filibuster and get it passed out of the Senate.

Senate Bill 727 Summary


UPDATE: Sounds like they fixed it:
https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-amends-house-bill-to-ease-passage-of-k-12-tax-credit-expansion/

With just four weeks remaining in the regular legislative session, the General Assembly has finally sent three bills to the governor for his signature. The first bills "truly agreed and finally passed" were a pair of education bills and a supplemental appropriation to cover the cost of sending troops/cops to the U.S. border in Texas. The massive Senate education bill finally (and barely) passed includes a tweak to address concerns about keeping guns in home schools.

The deadline for passing the state budget falls one week prior to the end of session so there's only three weeks remaining to get that done. The constitution requires the legislature to pass a budget (the legislature's only constitutionally required duty), so that task will surely dominate the next couple of weeks. The Senate is supposed to begin "marking up" the House spending bills next week. There's still the matter of renewing the "FRA," which is a perennial bone of contention with hard-core conservatives. The Federal Reimbursement Allowance is a program that accounts for about $4 billion of the state budget and helps fund the Medicaid program. Hospitals and other health providers voluntarily tax themselves and this funding triggers the draw-down of more federal money (most of the $4 billion is federal money but it requires the FRA tax to make it happen). Conservatives leverage this must-pass legislation as a way to include a prohibition on funding for Planned Parenthood. Missouri doesn't spend a dime on abortion and Planned Parenthood locations in Missouri don't perform abortions, but neither fact keeps the hard-liners from holding the budget hostage to make a point. You can expect the FRA to figure prominently in discussions over the next few weeks.

Otherwise, it will be a mad dash to the end. With hundreds of bills stuck in the legislative process, the time has come for negotiations and deal-making and House and Senate members will buckle down trying to gather support for their pet bills. Expect lots of bloated omnibus bills -- the proverbial Christmas Trees, with amendments hung like ornaments on tangentially related legislation. Most of the activity will happen the final week, after the budget has passed. The clock with run down on May 17 and it will be over. One of the least (if not THE least) productive legislative sessions in Missouri history will come to an end. Oh boy . . .


ETA:

To see which bills have progressed, here's the Senate's Bill Status webpage. Also, the House Bill Status page.

Budget nerds can take a closer look at the numbers here: https://oa.mo.gov/budget-planning/budget-information

ETA2: For a glimpse of how easily these last four weeks could go off the rails, here's this week's Freedom Caucus presser:

Looks like the shenanigans are underway this week. Senate leadership brought up the FRA bill for perfection. The Freedom Caucus promptly began filibustering. They say they want the governor to sign the Planned Parenthood bill (prohibiting state funding for PP) before they allow the FRA to go forward. The governor says "You're not the boss of me."

Three weeks to go. Two before the budget must be approved. Senate Appropriations chair says they can't vote on the budget until the FRA bill passes since it provides about 10% of the state budget.

Could be a fun week.

Oh, and the House ethics committee gave up on trying to shitcan the Speaker of the House.

Have been hearing rumors of a hard push to pass a red flag law before the end of the session.

That would require a lot of pushing.

The Freedom Caucus filibustered the FRA bill for 41 hours and tied up the Senate for the entire week. In the end, the stood down and the FRA passed the Senate. Neither of the caucus demands were met. If you want to know more about the filibuster or the FRA, read the news account.

Freedom Caucus ends filibuster in Missouri Senate without action on its demands

This article also discusses the challenge of passing the budget. Just one week remains before the constitutional deadline for passing the budget. The 2024 session ends on May 17.

How is 41 hours an entire week?

Because a legislative week isn't seven days, or even five. Typically, they meet from Monday afternoon through Thursday morning. Remember, being a legislator is a part-time gig and lawmakers have to travel to and from their homes, which can be as much as five or six hours away.

I am familiar with all of that......I was in Jeff City Monday and then again yesterday (2 hr drive each way for me).  Either way, if they started the filibuster on Tuesday night and ended it Thursday at 3am, that less than half of the [legislative] week.  Still had plenty of time to get stuff done before and after this rather than everybody just mulling around bitching like I saw yesterday.

It was the March for Life yesterday at the Capitol.....and there were 1000's of people there.  Would have been a great day for the Governor to sign the bill defunding Planned Parenthood (which was the main demand of the filibuster.)  Didn't happen, the filibuster ended, everybody is butt hurt, and we'll see what [doesn't] happen next week.

You'd have to ask Sens. Eigel, Brattin, Hoskins and Koenig what happened to the time.

If I'm not mistaken, the Senate tried to go to the FRA bill Tuesday morning but the Freedom Caucus blocked the motion to begin debate. Fully eight hours of Tuesday was wasted by these four guys preventing the bill from even being brought up. audio. (They filibustered the motion to bring up the bill before they filibustered the bill.)

I'm not talking about JUST Tuesday morning, Monday, or even last week......how about last month?  IP Reform was their first priority, yet the third read is being pushed off until the last day of the session with a 23 to 8 vote (15 of YES votes from the RINOs.)  That was the other half of the filibuster move......get that read and over to the House.

The Senate passed SJR74 (initiative petition reform) and sent it to the House on Feb. 22. In order to overcome a Democrat filibuster, the bill was stripped of all the "ballot candy." The House put the ballot candy back in and sent it back to the Senate on April 25. So, it's not like it's been languishing in the Senate for weeks and weeks.

https://www.senate.mo.gov/24info/BTS_Web/Actions.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=209

I imagine when the amended version comes up for a vote in the Senate, the Democrats are going to filibuster again. To get IP reform through, the Republicans will probably have to make a PQ (previous question) motion. If they do that, the Senate will come to a halt and nothing else will get done. It's hardly surprising leadership wants to approve the budget before risking that.

Off to a great start this week.

Senate wastes another day as clock ticks toward deadline to pass $53 billion budget

Missouri Senate stalls out quickly on return after 41-hour filibuster

Maybe some group should start collecting signatures to end the filibustering then.  Nope will never happen because the media and democrats love it when they use it.  Either way that's the game, and they all know how it's played.

The Senate passed the budget bills. Presumably, the House will take them up and pass them today. The House likely won't make any changes since the Senate has left for the week and the constitution set's a deadline of 6 p.m. tonight. It's either pass the bills the Senate approved or miss the deadline.

I didn't listen to any of the floor debate on the budget bills but it sounds like it was just a formality. All the negotiations between the House and Senate budget committees happened behind the scenes while the Freedom Caucus tied stuff up on the floor. Because they knew there would be no time for the usual process of sending competing budgets to conference committees they just hammered it out before the Senate vote. Sounds ugly, but they got it done. They also passed the FRA. Supposedly, the Senate will take up the House-revised IP Reform bill on Monday. One week left to go.

And, no, I can't tell you what's in the budget. Frankly, other than the folks on the House and Senate budget committees, I'm not sure anyone really knows what's in the budget. Even the governor was complaining that his staff hasn't seen it.

Senate approves budget; House must act by 6 p.m. Friday

Missouri Senate avoids impasse over budget to make constitutional deadline

In final days before deadline, Missouri Senate passes budget for next fiscal year

If anyone cares, here's some press coverage about the budget:

Missouri legislature passes $51.7 billion budget with some complaints about lack of transparency

Democrats say final Missouri budget pads special interests with state cash

With Democratic help, Missouri Republicans send spending plan to Parson’s desk


And a preview of a showdown over IP Reform in the final week:

Senate braces for showdown over push to make it harder to amend Missouri Constitution

It's the final week of the 2024 Regular Legislative Session. The Senate has brought up the House-revised version of the IP reform bill. The Democrats are filibustering. They've been talking for six hours as I post this. If you can't sleep tonight and want something to get you to doze off, you can listen to the Dems talk about nothing:

Chamber audio


ETA:
Democrats pull all-night filibuster of bill making it harder to amend Missouri Constitution

Democratic filibuster enters 2nd day over ‘ballot candy’ in initiative petition bill

I'll keep updating this thread at least through this weekend just because I want to finish what I started. Doesn't seem that anyone much cares, though.

That said, something pretty big just happened. After 51 hours of a Democrat filibuster, Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman pulled her motion to approve the House-amended version of the IP Reform bill. She then made a motion that the Senate refuse to agree to the House changes and send the bill to conference committee to sort out the differences. As you might imagine, Eigel, Brattin and Johnson spoke in opposition to the motion but it ended up passing 18-13. At this point in the session, it likely means that IP reform is dead for this year.

As an aside -- and this is just a personal opinion -- I don't think this IP reform bill was going to accomplish what the proponents thought it would. For one, I'm not confident Missourians were ever going to vote to reduce their own power. Beside that, I'm fairly confident the courts would rule that petitions that had already been circulated and submitted to the Secretary of State BEFORE voters weighed in would NOT be affected by the change. That means changing the rules would not stop Missourians from writing abortion rights into the Constitution. Passage of IP Reform would then only serve to make it nearly impossible to ever change it back.

Just want to say thanks for keeping this going. I really have looked forward to your updates. I for one am very interested in your posts.
 Thanks Mike

Thanks for the encouragement guys. How your senator voted on sending the IP reform bill to conference: Apparently, I don't know how to post a Tweet. Maybe this link will take you there:

https://twitter.com/MOFreedomCaucus/status/1790866711618445735?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1790866711618445735%7Ctwgr%5Eb32b1a74ab701640c9d838b49c5ca8b16b5b706d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FMOFreedomCaucus%2Fstatus%2F1790866711618445735


ETA: Press coverage of the filibuster resolution (pause):

50-hour filibuster forces more negotiations on GOP-backed initiative petition changes

In a win for abortion rights advocates, Missouri Senate Dems block initiative petition reform

Missouri Senate breaks record filibuster; negotiations ahead on constitutional changes

I expect the House to take up "the crime bill" tomorrow or Friday. If they wait until Friday, they likely won't make any changes. BTW, this bill essentially mirrors one from 2023 that got vetoed. The offending provision that caused the veto is not included in this. It does contain "Blair's Law," the celebratory gunfire part.

Senate Bill754

Of course, there's a possibility that Eigel will throw a hissy fit tomorrow and put a stop to any further legislative action. He all but threatened that when he spoke on the IP bill conference motion.

I read all of the posts, just not a lot to say.

I'm disappointed IP reform failed. Our "Constitution" is bloated here in Missouri.

What we honestly need is a state constitutional convention while Republicans hold power. But that's almost as dangerous as the current 51% majority to amend.

I thought this was interesting. Apparently, the DESE budget passed by the General Assembly doesn't account for all the new spending required by the education reform bill the General Assembly passed. Sounds like they're going to need to come back for a special session at some point to pass a supplemental budget:

Missouri education department prepares for ‘mother of all supplemental budgets’

I'm guessing there are a bunch of surprises that will come out of this train wreck of a session.

Ya SB727 raised minimum teacher pay and increased voucher fund availability as well as some funding tweaks to encourage 5 day a week school.

Five minutes of audio record the entire morning session of the Senate when Sen. Eigel proposes an amendment to the previous day's journal to mark the appearance of a pack of "rhinos" invading the Senate chamber (about half way through the 5 minutes). The Senate promptly recessed:

Audio Part 1

The afternoon session lasted about six minutes. In this case another senator proposes a resolution condemning the Attorney General for defending three members of the Freedom Caucus for slandering an American citizen following the KC Chiefs parade shooting. The Senate then adjourned for the day.

Audio Part 2


Oh, and the House refused to revisit their amendments to the IP reform bill:

Missouri bill changing constitutional amendment rules likely dead after legislative chaos

Missouri Senate bitterness halts action as lawmakers prepare for final day of chaotic session


The prospects for a smooth ending to the session seem to be fading fast.

The Senate adjourned. No more activity in the Senate. The House is still in session.

Sounds like several people need to be replaced next election cycle.

Well, it's over. Missourians can relax, safe from harm from the legislature . . . until they come back for a special session.

It was the least productive and most contentious session in modern history. Whether that's a good or bad thing is up to you to decide.

A budget got passed. What's in it is anyone's guess.
IP Reform failed.
They did put the citizen voting question before voters on a different resolution.
The "public safety bill" passes. It includes Blair's Law, the ban on celebratory gunfire in city limits.
You can still marry children
The Chinese can still own the farm land the Republicans let them buy two decades ago
We still owe personal property taxes

‘A bizarre session’: Missouri lawmakers head home after year defined by gridlock, infighting

GAME OVER: BILLS THAT SURVIVED, DIED THIS MISSOURI LEGISLATIVE SESSION

So am I understanding what happened correctly
1. Enough votes for PQ happened for IP
2. Rowden then sent the bill back to House
3. Senate went into sine die
?

I certainly have no way of knowing how anyone would have voted. I do know there is a general view that the Senate does not PQ. During the five sessions I worked for the Senate, I only recall one PQ and that one didn't accomplish its goal because the House didn't pass the bill. There are ramifications and consequences to a Senate PQ that go far beyond individual bills or legislative sessions. I don't think people understand how strongly many senators feel about not using the PQ.

FWIW, in two separate columns Scott Faughn handicapped the PQ vote and said there were not enough votes for the motion to pass. Like him or not, he generally has a good handle on what's going on. He said there MIGHT have been enough (10) senators willing to advance a PQ motion, but not enough (18) to actually pass the PQ motion. By his count, the PQ would have failed. We'll never know.

https://themissouritimes.com/twmp-column-ip-back-to-conference/
https://themissouritimes.com/twmp-column-senate-grinding-down/

Also FWIW, Faughn had Mary Elizabeth Coleman (the IP bill sponsor) on his podcast this week and she explains why she sent the bill back to the House. You be the judge.

Between term limits and some members choosing not to run for their Senate seats again, there will be at minimum 10 new senators (out of 34) next session. Among those not returning are Caleb Rowden (Senate president pro tem) and three members of the Freedom Caucus (Eigel, Hoskins and Koenig). Before you get too excited about Rowden being replaced, you should know his replacement will be a Democrat.

Karla May and (Appropriations Chair) Lincoln Hough are running for higher office but neither is risking their Senate seat. There are nine senators running for reelection this year. Likely, six of those are safe seats, at least in terms of which party will win. Mike Moon is running for reelection in a significantly different district than the one that first elected him (due to redistricting) so his primary could be interesting. Rick Brattin (supposed leader of the Freedom Caucus) has fairly strong primary opposition, but he's an incumbent so the odds are in his favor. It's possible, though not necessarily likely, that one or both of two Senate districts in the KC area could flip from Democrat to Republican. It is conceivable, though probably not likely, that the suburban St. Louis seat currently occupied by Andrew Koenig could flip to a Democrat.

TWMP Column: 24 State Senate Tipsheet

With messy session over, Missouri Republicans lean into election

Senate term limits schedule

(Btw, Senate Floor Leader Cindy O'Laughlin is in the middle of her second term and won't term limit out until 2026. She'll likely be president pro tem next year. I assume Jason Bean will be majority floor leader.)

More media coverage:

Missouri legislative session ends in flurry of GOP infighting and Democratic optimism

Game over: Bills that survived, died this Missouri legislative session

Constitutional amendment plan dies as Missouri Legislature ends session

‘Animosity’: MO session ends in GOP infighting, failed plan to limit direct democracy

On final day, crime package zooms out of Missouri House

Here’s what the Missouri Legislature accomplished — and didn’t — this session

With messy session over, Missouri Republicans lean into election

Thanks, the part in bold is what I was questioning. Makes more sense now.

From what I've seen there's at least one issue every year that generates talk of a Senate PQ. When it comes down to it, it's usually just a bluff. They rarely actually go for it. Either they water down the bill enough that the opposition stands down or they just let the bill/amendment die.

Dirty little secret: few of the things they argue about are actually as important or dire as they try to make out. In the end, the institution is more important than any individual issue.