Janice Ellis
December 16, 2024 5:50 am
Instead of focusing on esoteric and special or personal interests, there are many areas that need to be addressed in the new legislative session that begins on Jan. 8 that could improve the lives of many Missourians.
What will the policy priorities be of the new legislature?
If you scanned the hundreds of pre-filed bills, it is very difficult to tell.
But as the old saying goes, âthe squeaky wheel gets the grease.â There is lots of noise indicating what pre-filed bills will likely get a lot of attention.
For example, Republican lawmakers, of which they are the super majority, have filed at least 11 bills to curtail or outlaw abortion access. The objective of these bills is to undermine and nullify Amendment 3, which allows abortion access that the majority of Missourians just passed.
There is also a question of whether lawmakers will introduce and consider legislation to modify or repeal Proposition A which voters overwhelmingly passed by more than 57% to increase the minimum wage. The likelihood of legislation being introduced has increased since major business groups have filed a lawsuit to overturn it.
The greater concern should be about any efforts to curtail access to abortion or stop an increase in the minimum wage and what it says about the utter disregard for the will of the people.
A majority of Missourians have voted and expressed their desire on both issues.
What has happened to the Constitutional provision of âmajority ruleâ in a democracy?
You may recall the sustained efforts in both houses to pass legislation to change how the state constitution could be amended. This was a brazen effort to make it more difficult for initiative petitions â like the abortion amendment â to get on the ballot.
There is concern that efforts to thwart direct participation in our democracy will once again become high priority in the new legislative session.
It seriously begs the question: why will so much time and effort be expended to pass legislation to overturn the will of the people when there are so many pressing issues and concerns to be addressed that would mean a lot to a lot of Missourians?
What about being energized and proactive in focusing on solving those issues, or at least some progress in making things better?
A few areas come to mind.
Lead. Lead is present in many schools and homes across the state. Even though there has been legislation passed requiring schools to test their water and install filters, the contamination is still widespread.
Missouri has one of the highest numbers of lead pipes â ranking sixth among states â funneling water to homes even though the federal government banned lead pipes more than 30 years ago.
Shouldnât the legislature be doing more to address lead contamination/poisoning to reduce and eliminate the detrimental health risks for children and adults?
Housing. The state still faces a serious shortage of affordable housing for low income and middle-class working families. The crisis is more severe in Missouriâs largest metropolitan areas, Kansas City and St. Louis. But there is also a shortage of affordable housing in smaller cities and rural communities all across the state.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Missouri has a major shortage of homes.
Homelessness. Irrespective of the causes â mental health, economics, substance abuse, or by choice â homelessness continues to be a major problem especially for the large urban areas in the state.
Providing temporary emergency services is the perennial practice.
Implementing needed and lasting solutions â from providing small livable houses, adequate temporary shelters, and other social and healthcare services â seem to elude lawmakers irrespective of state surplus funds that could be applied.
Children. When a society ignores or continually fails to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, its children, among them it speaks volumes. Providing adequate services and a safety net for Missouriâs children continues to be a persistent problem.
The Division of Children Services is plagued by a plethora of problems from managing it foster care program, child safety and abuse to retaining adequate staffing. Many have been brought to light over the years.
There is acknowledgement that something desperately needs to be done. But will anything change in any meaningful and significant way?
Education. With an incoming new administration in Washington, D.C., which has declared that the U.S. Department of Education should be eliminated, what are some of the implications for the Missouri Department of Education when it comes to funding and other regulatory requirements.
Missouri K-12 schools, like many across the country, are plagued with a number of challenges from keeping an adequate number of qualified teachers, having state of the art technology and other resources, to improving overall student preparation and performance.
Those are just a few of the areas that, if they became priority for policy and funding solutions, would be very helpful for many Missourians.
The Missouri legislature only meets about five months. Should that precious time be spent on passing bills about transgender identity and care, one that allows convicted felons to be candidates for office and other bills that are bound to generate more noise and get more attention than the number of lives they will impact?
Again, it raises the question: who are the legislators sent to Jefferson City to represent?
Spending time and effort to thwart or undo the will and power of the people borders on malfeasance.
Pursuing the agenda of contributors, lobbyists, personal or special interests should not supplant the needs of families and citizens of Missouri.
Fulfilling the roles and responsibilities that are required of representative democracy that elected officials have been hired to do should rule the policy issues and decisions during the mere five months on the job.
If that is not what will be occurring, it is up to us to ask the pre-eminent questions.
Who are you representing?
Who are you working for?
Comments