Jefferson City

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A faction of the Missouri Senate ended a roughly 16-hour filibuster on Tuesday that was meant to pressure their fellow Republicans into fast-tracking legislation that would make it harder for voters to amend the state constitution.

The Freedom Caucus’ push comes as abortion-rights supporters are trying to get a measure on the November ballot that would guarantee the right to abortion in the state constitution.

Missouri Republicans have been trying for years to make it harder to amend the constitution. But pressure increased when the campaign to restore abortion rights announced plans to put the issue to a public vote this November.

State Sen. Bill Eigel, a member of the Freedom Caucus, said the hope is for Republican Gov. Mike Parson to put a measure on voter-referred constitutional amendments on the August primary ballot. Then, the higher approval threshold could be in place before the general election.

“The abortion question in front of us is the immediate threat. Without question,” Eigel said. “But I think this has been building for a few years.”

Attempts to keep measures that would protect abortion access off the ballot in Missouri are akin to those in some other Republican-led states to target the ballot initiative process, a form of direct democracy available to voters in only about half the states.

Ohio abortion rights advocates have said that last year’s statewide vote to enshrine abortion rights in their state’s constitution was as much about abortion as it was a referendum on democracy itself. They said Republicans tried to obstruct the democratic process before the vote and attempted to ignore the will of voters after the amendment passed.

Ohio Republicans called a special election in August in an attempt to raise the threshold for passing future constitutional amendments from a simple majority to 60%. But that effort was defeated at the polls and was widely seen as aiming to undermine the abortion amendment.

Missouri Freedom Caucus members spoke for hours Monday and Tuesday to a seemingly contradictory end: delaying unrelated work to pressure state Senate leaders to act more quickly on the top GOP priority.

The standoff ended Tuesday morning, with Freedom Caucus members allowing a confirmation vote on several gubernatorial appointees they had been blocking.

Eigel said in exchange, a state Senate committee minutes later voted out a Freedom Caucus-endorsed measure that would raise the bar for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

Currently, Missouri voters can enact constitutional amendments by a majority vote. In addition to that requirement, state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman’s proposal would require the approval of a majority of votes cast in a majority of the state’s 163 state House districts, including more conservative rural ones.

If passed by the Legislature, Coleman’s measure would still need voter approval.

Senate leaders said the disruptions by the Freedom Caucus only delayed action on the very policies those members support.

Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden on Tuesday tweeted that “nothing has changed in any way relative” to voter-referred constitutional amendments. But he said because of the infighting, “other top priorities like education reform, tort reform, and Missouri’s crackdown on illegal immigration are now behind schedule.”

“It has to be noted that we are in the exact same place that we would have been had certain members of the Senate not chosen to hijack business for the past two weeks,” Rowden said.

Speaking to hundreds of allies who gathered in the Capitol halls to show their support, Freedom Caucus members lauded the end of the filibuster as a win.

Meanwhile, those who want to keep the current system rallied a floor below in the Capitol Rotunda.

“Our initiative petition process has been a sacred constitution right for Missourians across the political spectrum for more than a century,” Missouri Voter Protection Coalition Director Denise Lieberman said to a crowd of more than 100. “It is how we make our voices heard.”

Originally Appeared Here

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s high court entertained arguments Thursday on whether to force changes to the state’s Senate districts in a case that has divided majority-party Republicans over how to apply new voter-approved redistricting criteria.

The lawsuit brought by voters contends that Senate districts in suburban St. Louis and western Missouri’s Buchanan County violate the state constitution by needlessly splitting cities or counties into multiple districts. It seeks revised districts before this year’s elections.

Missouri is one of a dozen states where legal challenges are still pending against congressional or state legislative boundaries that were redrawn based on the 2020 census. In many states, those fights have pitted Democrats against Republicans as each party strains to shape districts to its advantage.

But the Missouri lawsuit has divided Republicans into two camps. A Republican Senate committee supports the map enacted in 2022 by a panel of appeals court judges. But a GOP House committee sided with Democratic-aligned voters suing for the districts to be overturned.

Each side contends its approach best discourages gerrymandering, in which mapmakers manipulate boundaries to benefit a particular political party, racial group or incumbent lawmakers. The outcome of the case won’t affect immediate control of the Senate, where Republicans hold a 24-10 majority over Democrats.

“But what it will do is affect the next redistricting and how we do it” after the 2030 census by establishing which criteria are most important, plaintiffs’ attorney Chuck Hatfield said after Thursday’s arguments.

It’s unclear how quickly the court will rule. Candidate filing for the August primary elections is scheduled to run from Feb. 27 to March 26.

At issue are revised redistricting criteria approved by voters in a 2020 ballot measure. The first criterion says districts must be nearly equal as practical in population but can deviate up to 3% “if necessary to follow political subdivision lines,” such as counties and cities.

The second criterion requires compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act, the third prioritizes “contiguous” and “compact” districts, and the fourth requires communities to be kept whole in districts if possible under the equal population guidelines.

The lawsuit contends it was unconstitutional to split Buchanan County into two districts represented by Republicans and the St. Louis suburb of Hazelwood into two districts represented by Democrats. A trial judge rejected that assertion in September, ruling the map was reasonable because the constitution places a higher priority on compact districts than intact communities.

But Hatfield argued to Supreme Court judges that it’s more important to keep counties and cities intact than to draw compact districts. Otherwise, it will “enable efforts to gerrymander state legislative districts for nefarious political purposes” by splitting communities, Hatfield wrote in a court brief.

The state attorney general’s office defended the current Senate map. Deputy Solicitor General Maria Lanahan told judges that various other Senate districts — though not challenged by plaintiffs — also split counties while not following political subdivision lines. She said the plaintiffs were suggesting a standard that would be particularly hard to follow in heavily populated counties.

Prior to Thursday’s arguments, the Missouri House Republican Campaign Committee filed a court brief supporting the appeal. It asserted the community splits in the Senate map are “completely unnecessary” and that the House map — which avoided such splits — could be open to lawsuits if the court prioritized compactness.

The Republicans’ Missouri Senate Campaign Committee countered with its own court brief, contending that House Republicans had “aligned with Democratic interests” and that individual representatives may have “personal interest in tailoring Senate districts in which they hope to run in the future.”

Senate Republicans asserted that the current map avoids partisan manipulation that can occur when overemphasizing communities.

“Compact, contiguous territory is the first and most powerful line of defense against political and racial gerrymanders,” Senate Republicans wrote in a brief filed by attorney Eddie Greim.

Originally Appeared Here

Republican infighting brings business to a halt in Jefferson City

Progress is all but at a standstill in Jefferson City, as infighting within the Republican party continues. Our roundtable looks at the beef between lawmakers – and the priorities they’re leaving on the table.

Updated: 11:30 AM CST Jan 28, 2024

OF THE GAME IN MISSOURI POLITICS RIGHT NOW. AS WE WATCH THE AFTERMATH OF ANOTHER JEFF CITY SHAKEUP ON THE SENATE FLOOR THIS SESSION, REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN AT ODDS WITH HARD RIGHT MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN PARTY, A GROUP NOW REBRANDED THIS YEAR AS THE FREEDOM CAUCUS. BATTLING BACK AND FORTH ON A NUMBER OF ISSUES LIKE THE INITIATIVE PETITION PROCESS. THIS PAST WEEK, IT CAME TO A HEAD, THE PRESIDENT PRO TEM OF THE SENATE STRIPPED FOUR OF THE CAUCUS MEMBERS OF THEIR COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS AND CHANGED THEIR PARKING SPOTS. AND HE DIDN’T MINCE WORDS ABOUT WHY THE CHAMBER, DESIGNED TO BE OCCUPIED WITH CIVIL, PRINCIPLED STATESMAN AND WOMEN, HAVE BEEN OVERTAKEN BY A SMALL GROUP OF SWAMP CREATURES WHO ALL TOO OFTEN REMIND ME MORE OF MY CHILDREN THAN MY COLLEAGUES. NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY THROW STICKS AND STONES AT US, NO MATTER HOW MANY NAMES THEY CALL US, NO MATTER HOW UNCOMFORTABLE WE MAKE THEM, BECAUSE WE’RE WILLING TO BE BOLD ABOUT FIGHTING FOR OUR ISSUES. WE’RE NOT GOING TO GIVE UP THE FIGHT. A WEEK AND A HALF AGO, THE FREEDOM CAUCUS FILIBUSTERED FOR HOURS TO HOLD UP A NUMBER OF APPOINTMENTS ISSUED BY GOVERNOR MIKE PARSON, GOVERNOR BY THE WAY, GAVE HIS STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS THIS PAST WEEK, WHICH IS A BIT OVERSHADOWED BY THIS INFIGHTING. LET’S DISCUSS IT ALL WITH KMBC NINE POLITICAL REPORTER MICHAEL MAHONEY AND JASON HANCOCK, EDITOR IN CHIEF OF THE MISSOURI INDEPENDENT. WELCOME BACK GENTLEMEN. OKAY, WE THOUGHT THIS COULD HAPPEN. IT IS HAPPENING. JASON, WHAT’S THE IMPACT OF THIS INFIGHTING? WHAT’S GETTING DONE IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY RIGHT NOW? UM, BASICALLY NOTHING. UM, RIGHT NOW YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM CAUCUS VOWING TO HOLD UP VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING UNTIL THEY CAN GET, UM, THEIR WAY ON INITIATIVE, PETITION REFORM. THEY WANT THE BILL REFERRED TO A SPECIFIC COMMITTEE. THEY WANT IT MOVED ON TO THE CALENDAR AND DEBATED. AND THEY’RE HOLDING UP GUBERNATORIAL APPOINTMENTS. THEY’RE, UH, AT TIMES BLOCKING THE SENATE FROM DOING EVEN THE SIMPLEST THINGS, LIKE APPROVING THE JOURNAL FROM THE PREVIOUS DAY, WHICH THEY HAVE TO DO IN ORDER TO BEGIN THE LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS. THERE WAS SOME WORRIES THAT DURING THE RUN UP TO THE STATE OF THE STATE, THAT THEY MIGHT EVEN BLOCK EFFORTS TO PASS RESOLUTIONS ALLOWING THE SENATORS TO ATTEND THE STATE OF THE STATE. SO, UH, WE’RE SORT OF AT A STANDSTILL WHERE THE FREEDOM CAUCUS AND THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP ARE IN ACTIVE CIVIL WAR WITH WITH, WITH, WITHIN THE PARTY AND THE VICTIM IS BASICALLY ANY PRIORITY THAT THE REPUBLICANS HAVE THIS YEAR THAT THEY WILL HOPE TO GET ACROSS THE FINISH LINE. HOW DO YOU GET PAST THE DYSFUNCTION? UH, IT’S GOING TO BE DIFFICULT. JUST ON THURSDAY MORNING, UM, SENATOR EIGEL PUT OUT A TWEET THAT THAT SAID, COME AND TAKE IT. THE OLD LINE FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND THE AND THE ALAMO. YOU WANT TO BRING IT ON? LET’S START. IT’S HARD TO SEE HOW THIS GETS ANY SORT OF COMPROMISE AT LEAST HAS, UH, AS WE’RE LOOKING AT IT RIGHT NOW AND AS JASON SAID, UH, YOU KNOW, THERE THERE’S A LOT OF BAD FEELINGS THERE. AND THIS IS NOW AT LEAST THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW WHERE OUR CONSERVATIVE HARD LINE CONSERVATIVES IN THIS IN THE SENATE AND THEN THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY IN THE IN THE SENATE HAVE BEEN AT LOGGERHEADS IN THE PAST. IT’S BEEN LATER ON IN THE SESSION. THIS HAS STARTED FROM THE GET GO PRACTICALLY. YEAH. FOR SURE. IT’S IMPORTANT TO MENTION, UH, CALEB ROBINSON RAWLINS RUNNING FOR MISSOURI SECRETARY OF STATE. BILL IS A CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR MAHONEY. IS THERE A CAMPAIGN COMPONENT HERE TO. WE HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND, THERE’S ABSOLUTELY A CAMPAIGN, UH, PROPONENT IN EVERYTHING. AND IT’S NOT JUST ROUTING AND EAGLE, BUT EVERY STATE SENATOR AND FOR THAT MATTER, THE THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT ARE RUNNING FOR EITHER THE STATE SENATE OR RUNNING FOR REELECTION, THERE’S GOING TO BE A LOT OF CAMPAIGN RHETORIC FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR AND THE ENTIRE IN SESSION. AND THAT DOESN’T HELP. UH, MOVE THINGS ALONG AS WE SAID, THE GOVERNOR GAVE HIS FINAL STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS. AS THIS IS ALL HAPPENING BEHIND THE SCENES, JASON, WHAT STOOD OUT TO YOU FROM HIS ADDRESS? IT WAS IT WAS A VICTORY LAP OF SORTS FOR THE GOVERNOR. YOU KNOW, HE’S BEEN IN OFFICE FOR SIX YEARS. HE TOOK OVER FOR ERIC GREITENS WHEN, UH, HE WAS FORCED TO RESIGN IN DISGRACE AND WON A FULL TERMS OF HIS OWN IN 2020. AND A LOT OF THE SPEECH WAS SORT OF A RETREAD OF HIS LIST OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS. HE TALKED ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, WHICH HAVE BEEN HIS TO THE PILLARS OF HIS ADMINISTRATION SO FAR. UM, AND OBVIOUSLY HE TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE BIG SOCIAL ITEMS THAT HAVE PASSED DURING HIS TENURE, THE BAN ON ABORTION, UM, THINGS LIKE THAT. HE TALKED ABOUT APPOINTING FIVE DIFFERENT MEN TO, UH, STATEWIDE OFFICE, YOU KNOW, AS WE’VE HAD THESE VACANCIES THAT CAME UP THANKS TO, TO SENATE VICTORIES FOR ERIC SCHMIDT AND JOSH HAWLEY. SO, UM, YOU KNOW, HE PUT FORTH SOME OF HIS LEGISLATIVE AGENDA. OBVIOUSLY, HE ROLLED OUT HIS BUDGET AS PART OF THE STATE OF THE STATE. BUT, UH, THE BIG THRUST OF THE SPEECH WAS HIM SORT OF LOOKING BACK, UM, AT HIS OWN LEGACY AND, UH, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY SAYING GOODBYE. HE’S GOT ONE YEAR LEFT. UM, MAY NOT BE THE SMOOTHEST FINAL YEAR FOR THE GOVERNOR, GIVEN WHAT WE’VE JUST BEEN TALKING ABOUT, BUT THAT WAS SORT OF THE TONE OF THE SPEECH WAS WAS SORT OF THIS MISTY WATERCOLOR LOOK BACK AT HIS SIX YEARS AND SORT OF STARTING TO SHAPE THE LEGACY HE HOPES TO LEAVE BEHIND. AND WE KNOW WE TALK ABOUT BUDGET. IT WAS ANOTHER RECORD BUDGET. WILL HE BE ABLE, GIVEN THIS GRIDLOCK, TO TO GET MUCH OF THIS DONE? I THINK THAT’S GOING TO BE CAUGHT UP IN ALL OF THIS FIGHT OVER, UH, THE INITIATIVE PETITION REFORM AND THE WAY THE, THE FREEDOM CAUCUS IN THE SENATE WANTED WANT TO DO IT. UH, AND, AND, UH, UH, BECAUSE THIS IS AN ELECTION YEAR SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE AND NOT A LOT GETS DONE ANYWAY. AND THERE MAY BE, UH, SOME ELEMENTS OF HIS BUDGET TO GET HELD HOSTAGE BY SOME MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE IN ORDER TO TRY AND TRY AND MAKE THEIR POLITICAL POINTS IN. AN ELECTION YEAR. YEAH, A LOT OF PRIORITIES. WE WILL SEE IF ANY OF THEM GET THROUGH. THAT’S IT FOR NOW. MICHEAL MAHONEY JASON HANCOCK.

Republican infighting brings business to a halt in Jefferson City

Progress is all but at a standstill in Jefferson City, as infighting within the Republican party continues. Our roundtable looks at the beef between lawmakers – and the priorities they’re leaving on the table.

Updated: 11:30 AM CST Jan 28, 2024

Originally Appeared Here

ABOUT AN HOUR LATER, NO ONE ELSE WAS HURT. THE FUTURE OF JACKSON COUNTY TAX DOLLARS IS UP FOR DISCUSSION IN JEFFERSON CITY. MISSOURI, STATE LAWMAKERS ARE LOOKING INTO CHANGING THE ASSESSMENT DEPARTMENT. WE’VE COVERED COMPLAINTS IN THE COUNTY FOR MONTHS NOW. KMBC NINE’S MATT EVANS SHOWS US WHERE THOSE IDEAS ARE HEADED NEXT. THERE ARE NEARLY 100 BILLS FILED IN JEFFERSON CITY LOOKING TO REFORM PROPERTY TAXES IN THE STATE. MANY OF THOSE ARE AIMED HERE AT JACKSON COUNTY. AFTER NEARLY 55,000 RESIDENTS APPEALED THEIR PROPERTY TAXES LAST YEAR. SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PROPERTY TAX REFORM WILL NOW COME TO ORDER. LAWMAKERS WEIGHED SEVERAL OF THOSE IDEAS TODAY IN THIS COMMITTEE, INCLUDING ONE THAT WOULD CAP ANNUAL PROPERTY TAX INCREASES AT 2%. JACKSON COUNTY, SAINT LOUIS, UM, DOWN TO THE BOOT HILL, UP TO THE STATE LINE ON THE IOWA BORDER. I GET CALLS EVERY YEAR OF PEOPLE WHO ARE WORRIED ABOUT LOSING THEIR HOMES. AND TWO PROPOSALS LOOKING TO MAKE THE JACKSON COUNTY ASSESSOR AN ELECTED POSITION. CURRENTLY, IT’S APPOINTED BY THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE. MANY PEOPLE IN JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI, BELIEVE THAT THEIR DIRECTOR OF TAX ASSESSMENT IS NOT ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PEOPLE. BLUE SPRINGS REPUBLICAN DAN STACEY SPONSORED THAT RESOLUTION. HE SAYS IT’S A SIMPLE FIX TO GIVE VOTERS A SAY IN THE ASSESSMENT DEPARTMENT. THIS IS JUST SOMETHING I THINK IT BRINGS A SOME POWER TO THE CITIZENS. JACKSON COUNTY LEGISLATOR SEAN SMITH WAS ALSO THERE TO TESTIFY. WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW IN JACKSON COUNTY IS AN ABSOLUTE DISTRUST OF GOVERNMENT, AND TOLD US HE IS CONFIDENT THAT THE LEGISLATURE IS TAKING PROPERTY TAX ISSUES VERY SERIOUSLY. AND I THINK THERE’S A PRETTY STRONG SUPPORT FOR SETTING SOME SORT OF CAP ON INCREASES SO THAT WE CAN PROTECT PEOPLE’S HOMES. UM, WE’VE TRIED FOR YEARS TO REFORM THINGS AND REQUIRE INSPECTIONS AND EVERYTHING ELSE. AND WHAT WE’RE SEEING IS THAT THAT CAN STILL BE ABUSED, AS IT WAS IN JACKSON COUNTY IN 2023, IN KANSAS CITY, MATT EVANS, KMBC NINE NEWS NOW, THAT COMMITTEE DIDN’T TAKE ANY ACTION ON THE BILLS. THE LANGUAGE THAT MAKES THE JACKSON COUNTY ASSESSOR AN APPOINTED POSITION IS IN THE MISSOURI CONSTITUTION, FULLY

Over 100 bills on property taxes filed in Jefferson City, with some focusing on Jackson County

Updated: 10:26 PM CST Jan 24, 2024

State lawmakers are discussing the future of Jackson County tax dollars. The assessment department has been a topic of complaints in the county for months, and nearly 100 bills have been filed in Jefferson City to reform property taxes in the state. Many of these bills are targeting Jackson County, after nearly 55,000 residents appealed their assessments in 2023. The special committee on property tax reform recently weighed several ideas, including one that would cap annual property tax increases to two percent. Another proposal being considered is making the Jackson County Assessor an elected position, instead of an appointed one by the County Executive. Blue Springs Republican Dan Stacy sponsored the resolution and believes this would give voters a say in the assessment department.Jackson County Legislator Sean Smith was also present at the hearing and stated that there is an absolute distrust of government in the county. Smith is confident that the legislature is taking property tax issues seriously and that there is strong support for setting some sort of cap on increases to protect people’s homes.”I think there’s pretty strong support for setting some sort of cap on increases so we can protect peoples homes,” Smith said. “We’ve tried for years to reform things and require inspections and what we’re seeing is that can still be abused as it was in Jackson county in 2023.”The committee did not take any action on the bills, but the language making the Jackson County Assessor an appointed position is in the Missouri Constitution, so fully changing that requires a statewide vote.Recent KMBC coverage of Jackson County property assessments:Prefiled bills in Missouri would make Jackson County assessor’s office an elected position, provide relief for seniorsAttorney general’s lawsuit against Jackson County seeks to void assessment increases above 15 percentClass action lawsuits against Jackson County, Tyler Technologies over property tax assessment process dismissed by Missouri Supreme CourtMissouri Attorney General files lawsuit against Jackson County over property tax assessment processKansas City attorney offers advice paying for paying Jackson County property taxes under protest’Deficiencies and noncompliance’ found in preliminary audit of 2023 Jackson County property tax assessment process

JACKSON COUNTY, Mo. —

State lawmakers are discussing the future of Jackson County tax dollars.

The assessment department has been a topic of complaints in the county for months, and nearly 100 bills have been filed in Jefferson City to reform property taxes in the state.

Many of these bills are targeting Jackson County, after nearly 55,000 residents appealed their assessments in 2023.

The special committee on property tax reform recently weighed several ideas, including one that would cap annual property tax increases to two percent.

Another proposal being considered is making the Jackson County Assessor an elected position, instead of an appointed one by the County Executive.

Blue Springs Republican Dan Stacy sponsored the resolution and believes this would give voters a say in the assessment department.

Jackson County Legislator Sean Smith was also present at the hearing and stated that there is an absolute distrust of government in the county.

Smith is confident that the legislature is taking property tax issues seriously and that there is strong support for setting some sort of cap on increases to protect people’s homes.

“I think there’s pretty strong support for setting some sort of cap on increases so we can protect peoples homes,” Smith said. “We’ve tried for years to reform things and require inspections and what we’re seeing is that can still be abused as it was in Jackson county in 2023.”

The committee did not take any action on the bills, but the language making the Jackson County Assessor an appointed position is in the Missouri Constitution, so fully changing that requires a statewide vote.

Recent KMBC coverage of Jackson County property assessments:

Originally Appeared Here

Bryce Gray
, 

Alyse Pfeil

JEFFERSON CITY — A state lawmaker is looking to save a key U.S. aluminum smelter, long plagued by financial and environmental woes, after the plant announced this week that it would close down, risking about 450 jobs.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat, said on Thursday that she has filed legislation that aims to provide cheaper electricity to the southeast Missouri aluminum smelter — one of just five left in the country — and also looks to help owner Magnitude 7 Metals find a new buyer for the plant.

“Lawmakers have a responsibility to those citizens to attract and encourage a business to come to this state to save these jobs,” Quade, who is running for governor, said in a statement Thursday.

A glowing red hot anode is pulled out of a pot where aluminum is smelted at the Noranda aluminum smelting plant in New Madrid, Mo. on Thursday, May 1, 2014.

David Carson, Post-Dispatch

Aluminum production takes enormous amounts of energy. “People describe aluminum as electricity solidified,” said Annie Sartor, aluminum campaign director at environmental policy group Industrious Labs.

Magnitude 7’s existing energy supplier now provides energy to the smelter generated almost entirely from burning coal, Quade said. Her bill would allow the supplier to diversify its energy sources. The bill would also allow an energy company to create renewable energy on-site.

Magnitude 7, known as Mag 7, did not respond to a request seeking comment.

But the company told employees Wednesday that the smelter, in New Madrid County, would close down over the next three to five days, and that “most employees will no longer be required after January 28,” according to a report in the commodities publication Fastmarkets.

The news spurred interest from renewable energy advocates and electricity experts, who see a potential to shift Mag 7 away from coal-fired power.

Light reflects off of aluminum spilled on the production line at the Noranda aluminum smelting plant in New Madrid, Mo. on Thursday, May 1, 2014.

David Carson, Post-Dispatch

The Mag 7 plant is the largest single consumer of energy in Missouri — using about as much electricity as Springfield, the state’s third-largest city. Under previous ownership, the plant had purchased its power from Ameren and accounted for about 10% of the St. Louis-based electric utility’s sales.

Globally, aluminum smelting accounts for about 3% of all direct industrial carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency.

And with coal no longer the cheapest energy source, aluminum plants like Mag 7 are left hustling to find cheaper power.

“We’re facing a crisis,” said Sartor, from Industrious Labs.

That leaves Quade and others hoping to help the facility transition to cheaper energy sources. Currently, the plant relies on electricity from coal, which dominates Missouri’s power grid. For years, the state has burned more coal for electricity than any except Texas, according to government data.

The loss of the plant would continue the decades-long erosion of the U.S. aluminum industry. Up until about two decades ago, the U.S. had been the world’s leading aluminum producer. Today it only accounts for a sliver of production.

Quade and various advocacy groups are arguing that the U.S. must maintain domestic suppliers of aluminum. The metal plays a crucial role in many types of manufacturing, and the loss of plants may have national security implications, thanks to its use in military aircraft, for example.

“We’re losing about 20% of domestic capacity, which is just huge,” Sartor said of Mag 7’s impending closure. “And a lot of jobs, too — especially for that region.”

Mag 7 purchased the New Madrid plant in 2018 amid the bankruptcy of former owner Noranda Corp., after the company faced years of challenges at the site — often tied to energy costs.

In early 2016, Noranda sought a “legislative solution” to “secure a substantially more sustainable power rate for the smelter,” as it braced for curtailing operations and laying off nearly 500 of the 850 workers it employed at the time. Within months, Noranda filed for bankruptcy protection and idled the plant, before looking to sell off the smelter.

The plant reopened under its new owners in 2018, after reaching a deal with Springfield-based Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., as its power provider. The plant pays about $55 million per year to AECI for its energy costs, according to Quade.

Quade said Thursday that renewable energy advocates Renew Missouri contacted her a few months ago about a possible closure of the smelter and for help securing a meeting with Gov. Mike Parson’s team.

“The conversation really was, ‘How can we help keep the plant open?’” she said. “And obviously the biggest challenge they were alluding to was the high energy costs.”

In November, the company met with Quade’s chief of staff, the governor’s legislative budget director and the Missouri Department of Economic Development director.

Parson said at an event on Thursday, however, that when government partners with businesses, it has to be a good deal for taxpayers. “We’re not gonna bail anybody out of anything,” Parson said.

“But,” he continued, “we’re a long way from that at this point.”

View life in St. Louis through the Post-Dispatch photographers’ lenses.

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Originally Appeared Here

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Senate’s top leader announced Tuesday that he has stripped several state senators of committee assignments.

Republican infighting hit a new level Tuesday as Senate leadership removed other GOP members from committee positions. Caleb Rowden, Senate President Pro Tem, announced several changes to committee assignments during a news conference Tuesday at the state capitol.

It’s been a tough start to the year for the Missouri Senate, with many Republicans holding the floor for hours. A surprise announcement Tuesday from Rowden removed members of the new Freedom Caucus from their committee assignments, a plan that could intensify the dysfunction. 

“The beginning of the 2024 Legislative Session in the Senate has been nothing short of an embarrassment,” Rowden said. “A chamber designed to be occupied with civil, principal statesmen and women have been overtaken by a small group of swamp creatures who remind me all too often of my children than my colleagues.”

Despite the start of a new legislative session, infighting among Senate Republicans remains constant. 

“This is going to be an interesting time in the state of Missouri,” Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, said. “Just realize this is not our doing; this is their doing, trying to create this sort of environment in the Missouri Senate.

Rowden says members of the “Chaos Caucus,” a group of lawmakers more formally known as the “Freedom Caucus,” have “chosen to use the Missouri Senate as a place to try and salvage their languishing statewide campaigns and intentionally destroy the institution in an effort to claim the game is rigged against them.”

Hostage situation at downtown Drury Hotel

According to Rowden, changes include the following…

• Sen. Denny Hoskins (R-Warresnburg) was removed as Chair of the Committee on Economic Development and Tax Policy and from the Senate Appropriations Committee.
• Sen. Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) was removed as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Education and Workforce Development, the Vice-Chair of the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and Pensions and as Chair of the Select Committee on the Protection of Missouri Assets From Foreign Adversaries.
• Sen. Andrew Koenig (R-St. Louis County) was removed as Chair of the Committee on Education and Workforce Development.
• Sen. Bill Eigel (R-St. Charles County) was removed as Chair of the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and Pensions.

Hoskins, Brattin, Koenig and Eigel all have ties to the Freedom Caucus, which consists of a group of hard-right Republican members. The group has reportedly been linked to some tensions and fillibusters in recent weeks.

“This is very disheartening and concerning that our leadership is not capable of leading,” Hoskins said. “We need new leadership in the Missouri Senate.”

Members of the Freedom Caucus said they’re tired of waiting to debate legislation that changes the initiative petition process and education reform. 

“They have called us everything from narcissists to charlatans when all we want to do is pass big red policy ideas that were promised to the voters of this state every two years,” Eigel said. 

Other Senate Republicans said they’ve been waiting for the Freedom Caucus to sit down so the Senate can once again start working. 

“It’s time that we get to business,” Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, said. “We’re tired of having books read to us on the floor and valuable floor time being wasted.”

Besides being stripped of their committee hearings, the senators also had their parking spots removed from the Capitol’s basement garage. Their new spots are farther away from the Capitol. 

For Eigel, Koenig and Hoskins, since they are no longer chairmen of committees, this means a funding loss to their office of around $10,000. 

“These guys have wrecked this place and we’re going to fix it,” Rowden said Tuesday night. 

Shortly after Rowden removed members of the Freedom Caucus from their committee assignments, Hoskins said he was disappointed in his Republican colleagues. 

“Our President Pro Tem Rowden, as well as our Majority Floor Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, have not texted me, called me or asked me to come to their office to see if we can work out any differences,” Hoskins said. “Their lack of communication is very telling. Not one time has any of our leadership come to me and said, ‘Hey, let’s meet and see if we can figure it out.’”

Rowden said Tuesday that his action was the first step but there could be more to come. 

“Missourians have demanded more of us,” said Rowden. “They have demanded progress, civility, and the passage of policies that will provide better schools, a stronger economy, and safer communities around this state.”

Eigel, currently campaigning for the Missouri governor’s office, fired back and shared the following statement after Rowden’s announcement Tuesday:

“Jefferson City is ruled by a uniparty cartel of special interests, RINOs, and Democrats, who band together to crush the voice of the people. These are the same tactics The Swamp uses against President Trump. They can strip me of my chairmanship, they can kick me off committees, they can drag my name through the mud, but I am not backing down. They think this punishment will somehow deter me, but I am freer than I have ever been.  I don’t work for the swamp. I work for the people, and the people are tired of spineless RINOs. We will push forward until initiative petition reform crosses the finish line—I will not stand idly by and allow Missouri’s pro-life laws to be destroyed.”

Across the aisle, Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, is calling on senators to move forward to work on common ground legislation like raising teacher pay and making child care more affordable. 

Originally Appeared Here

The Historic City of Jefferson is under new leadership.

Stacy Landwehr was elected president of the historic preservation group Sunday during its annual meeting. She said she’s interested in growth.

“I definitely want to grow,” Landwehr told the News Tribune. “We lost a lot of members during COVID and I want to continue to grow our membership.”

Landwehr said more members and volunteers would help to expand HCJ’s Reclaim Salvage Shop, which sells architectural and building materials sourced from historic buildings that are demolished.

The shop started about three years ago and is taking off, said Donna Deetz, the former HCJ president.

“We surprised ourselves this year and made over $10,000,” Deetz said, “which is really good.”

Landwehr and her husband, Eric, have been chairing the committee overseeing the shop. She said more hands would help it continue to exceed expectations.

Landwehr was elected president along with a slate of other officers. Gary Rackers was elected vice president, Holly Stitt moved from vice president to treasurer, and Janet Gallagher was elected corresponding secretary. David Van Syckle, Tami Holliday, Amy Griffith and Debra Green were added to the HCJ Board of Directors.

About three dozen people attended HCJ’s Sunday meeting. In addition to electing officers and board members, the group approved a 2024 budget and revised its bylaws. Members were also brought up to speed on events that happened in 2023 and what to expect in 2024.

HCJ has a 2024 budget totaling $54,800 and expects to take in the same amount, according to the proposal approved Sunday. Last year, the historic preservation group took in about $50,400 and spent about $36,600.

Landwehr said she plans to continue HCJ’s popular historic homes tours and search for more ways to offer educational programs in the community and local schools.

HCJ is hosting a free author presentation focused on Lincoln University students who became Tuskegee Airmen at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 29 at Inman Page Library. In April, the group will host a cemetery tour.

Restoring the Tweedie House, the HCJ’s home at 601 E. High St., will also be a priority for the next year, Deetz said. The group is working to restore the home to its 1880s glory, complete with tin ceilings, its original fireplace mantel and other vintage architecture.

Deetz, who reached her 10-year term limit on the board of directors, said she’ll still be involved with the group but is looking forward to seeing where the new leaders take it.

She said she was proud of the community connections HCJ established over the past year. The group hosted its historic homes tour at Lincoln, a historically Black university, and is working with LU students to perform oral histories of Lincoln’s homecoming events. It also worked with the city on historic preservation ordinances.

“I’m glad we got done what we did. It was challenging, being president during COVID,” Deetz said. “But we have recovered past that, and we’re going on to bigger and better things.”

Ryan Pivoney/News Tribune
Stacy Landwehr, newly elected president of Historic City of Jefferson, listens to the group Sunday during its annual business meeting. Landwehr said she’s interested in growing the historic preservation group, which lost membership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ryan Pivoney/News Tribune
Donna Deetz, former president of Historic City of Jefferson, reviews the group’s 2024 budget with members Sunday during its annual business meeting. The historic preservation group approved a $54,800 budget for 2024.

Ryan Pivoney/News Tribune
Kay Craig helps a couple check in to the Historic City of Jefferson’s annual business meeting on Sunday. About three dozen people attended the meeting, where the historic preservation group elected new officers and board members, approved a 2024 budget and altered its bylaws.

Ryan Pivoney/News Tribune
David Van Syckle, a new member of the Historic City of Jefferson’s Board of Directors, speaks about his interest in preserving history during Sunday’s annual meeting. Van Syckle was one of four new members elected to the board.

Originally Appeared Here

Like much of the state Monday, life at the Missouri Capitol was interrupted by Mother Nature, as icy conditions forced the cancellation of the Senate floor schedule and committee hearings, as well as most House committees.

When things return to more normal circumstances Tuesday, observers will be looking to see if the icy relationship between members of the Missouri Freedom Caucus and Senate GOP leadership has thawed. 

On Thursday, Freedom Caucus members spent a marathon day holding the floor and holding up a slate of gubernatorial nominees when Senate leadership wouldn’t take immediate action on legislation to reform the state’s initiative petition process.

Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia eventually pulled the motion for the nominees.

Tensions between conservative members and GOP leadership in the Senate has boiled for several years, but the latest row comes less than 10 working days into a legislative session that already had low expectations in terms of productivity thanks to being an election year.

State Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, one of the Freedom Caucus members and a candidate for governor said in a weekend interview that the way to move past the differences in the Senate was for Rowden, also a candidate for Secretary of State, and Senate Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin, to be replaced.

Rowden’s response in a social media post Friday night? “Bring it on, Big Boy,” quoting the late Missouri House Speaker and Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard.

Legislatively, there are least two Senate committee hearings to watch. On Tuesday,  bills that would create a Parent’s Bill of Rights when it comes to their child’s education and curtail some authority of the State Board of Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education could get voted out of the Senate Education and Workforce Development committee.

On Wednesday, there will be a public hearing on SB 810 in the Health and Welfare Committee. The bill would make abortion-related facilities ineligible for Mo HealthNet funding.

In the House, weather conditions wiped out a Monday hearing that could have produced a vote out of the chamber’s Rules and Regulatory Oversight committee on a K-12 student transfer system bill. 

On Tuesday, public hearings on initiative petition reform bills will dominate a hearing of the House Committee on Elections and Elected Officials.

HB 1749 would require anyone circulating petitions to be a Missouri resident or to be in the state for 30 days beforehand. They would have to be U.S. citizens and could not be paid based on the number of signatures they collect.

The panel will also hear public testimony on a pair of similar House Joint Resolutions. Each would ban the use of initiative petitions for a sales tax on food or imposing taxes or fees on real estate or personal property. One would tie passage of any constitutional amendment to receiving a majority statewide and in each of the state’s congressional districts, while the other would require a majority statewide and in a majority of the state’s House of Representatives districts.

Both of the Joint Resolutions would require voter approval.

A House attempt at legalizing sports wagering returns to the House Committee on Public Policy on Tuesday. The bill is similar to past efforts that have stalled in the Senate as some lawmakers continue to want to tie sports wagering legislation to video gaming terminals which have spread across the state and are unregulated. The state’s major league sports teams are now collecting signatures in hopes of putting an initiative petition measure on a statewide ballot later this year.

On Wednesday, Gov. Mike Parson delivers his final State of the State address, and releases his administration’s FY 2025 budget proposal. In recent years, Democrats who find themselves in the super-minority in both chambers have embraced some of Parson’s budget more than some of Parson’s fellow Republicans. But that has often been due to the availability of COVID-related federal aid. With that money in the past, officials have warned of tighter budgets to come.

 

Originally Appeared Here

Following the Hamas massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, there has been a concerning surge in antisemitic incidents in the United States.

In Missouri, the Anti-Defamation League is seeing increased numbers of incidents of harassment and vandalism, mainly in schools.

“People who are being called names. People who are having their kids see other students give Hitler salutes in school. We’re seeing vandalism like swastikas on walls in a growing number and we’re seeing anti-Israel sentiment crossover into antisemitism,” said ADL Heartland Regional Director Jordan Kadosh.

In response to the escalating concerns over antisemitism and the safety of the Jewish community in Missouri, a crucial panel discussion titled “Antisemitism and Jewish Safety in Missouri” is slated for Jan. 17, in Jefferson City. St. Louisan Dafna Revah, who created the emotional “Empty Shabbat Table” last November in Shaw Park, is one of the panel’s organizers.

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“Since there has been an increase in antisemitism and an increase in safety concerns for the Missouri Jewish community, I thought the beginning of the legislative session would be a good time for our lawmakers to hear about recent changes and how the community is responding to them,” said Revah.

The panel will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the Missouri Capital building’s First Floor Rotunda. The panel will be hosted by State Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-Olivette, and Rep. Adam Schwadron, R-St. Charles. Panelists include Kadosh, the Regional Director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in St. Louis, Nancy Lisker, and the Community Security Director at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis Scott Biondo. The panel will be moderated by the President of the NCJWSL, Nancy Litz.

“We will be discussing how prevalent antisemitism in Missouri is and how current teams are addressing concerns,” said Revah. “There may be insight into gaps and what the needs of the Jewish community in Missouri may be in the coming months and years.”

The panel will be live and not be streamed online. This means anyone in St. Louis interested in participating needs to travel to Jefferson City.

“It’s important for members of the community to attend since St. Louis has a large percentage of all Jewish people in Missouri,” said Revah. “In addition to the panel, local Jewish Community organizations are facilitating hands-on advocacy training and lobbying meetings with local representatives.”

In addition to the discussion of antisemitism in Missouri, Revah hopes to educate lawmakers about a bill coming up for a vote this term. HB 1557 provides additional funding for security measures for non-profits.

“Jewish non-profits have already seen a large increase in security expenses since October 7, 2023, and with the continued increase in antisemitic rhetoric and potential threats, the costs are likely to stay or possibly increase the next year. It’s important to me that nonprofits find additional funds for security so they can continue serving their communities in 2024 and beyond.”

 

Originally Appeared Here

JEFFERSON CITY – Jefferson City author, Michelle Brooks, held a book signing Sunday afternoon at Quinn Chapel A.M.E Church for a story that covered lost Black history in mid-Missouri.

Brooks, a former reporter of 20 years with the Jefferson City News Tribune, delved into history she said had been altered or dismissed in the Mill Bottom and The Foot near downtown Jefferson City. She highlighted the many untold stories of families and businesses that she said were pushed out of their neighborhoods.

The early-release signing for “Lost Jefferson City,” took place on Sunday at Quinn Chapel on the corner of Lafayette Street and East Miller Street.

Quinn Chapel is one of the oldest Black entities in Jefferson City.

It was started by a group of free and enslaved Black individuals in 1850. The Ramsey family was one of the founding families that was included in Brooks’ book. Its story held the background of a community that confronted urban renewal efforts in the 1960s that Brooks’ said wiped out their culture in the Lafayette interchange neighborhood. 

The Foot is an area at the base of Lincoln University bordered by East McCarty, Chestnut, Atchison and Jackson streets. 

Brooks said she utilized primary sources by professional archaeologists and historians to discover how The Foot was lost during urban renewal efforts. She wanted to tell the recorded histories of individuals who are no longer living to tell it. 

“Their stories weren’t recorded on a statue, or they don’t have a plaque somewhere, but they contributed to their community especially in The Foot and The Mill Bottom,” she said.

Jefferson City resident, Glover Brown, was one of the characters in Brooks’ book who shared his experience. 

“I didn’t know what racism was, until urban renewal came in the late 50s and 60s,” Brown said. 

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He said he along with his brother and father were pushed out of their home on Elm Street in Missouri’s capitol. 

Brown served as a civil rights investigator and is currently developing a building site plan for the corner of Lafayette and McCarty.

He said he’s glad to see some change since more people are learning about the history of his neighborhood.

“As long as we can talk, I don’t care what color you are, as long as we can talk,” Brown said. 

Continuing the conversation to learn from one another helps members from different communities understand how history has helped shape the present, said one of Quinn Chapel’s officers, Lori Simms.

Quinn Chapel was once a part of The Foot neighborhood when it was a vibrant and bustling center for Black-owned businesses like hotels, restaurants and laundromats, Brooks said. That was before Black families were moved due to forced segregation, said Simms. 

She accepted Brooks’ book with open arms because she wanted the chapel’s connection within the historic black community to be kept alive. She said it’s important to know history – regardless if it’s your own – to ensure that the bad parts don’t get repeated. 

Simms said, “It’s there, even if you can’t see those threads. And if you learn a little bit about your history, as you study, you start to connect the dots.” 

Brooks said her book is meant to stitch together the missing fabrics in history to create one big, continuous story, where people can find common ground. 

Originally Appeared Here