It didn't take the GOP leadership long to reveal their real "pre-election" agenda: Voter Suppression, Nullification of Federal Gun Laws - version 2.0. and Attacks on Women's Reproductive Health (so much for smaller government). I sat in on the following hearings this past week:
VOTER SUPPRESSION - SENATE HEARING MON, JAN 27th
Voter ID bills, back again for the 8th year, were heard in a Senate committee - SB511 and SJR31 both sponsored by Sen. Will Kraus (who is rumored to be considering a run for Secretary of State). No one in the full hearing room testified in FAVOR of changing laws to require a state issued photo voter identification.
Many testified AGAINST including Missouri's own voter rights expert, Denise Lieberman, senior attorney with the national Advancement Project.
Requiring a Voter ID to vote would mean Missouri would FIRST need to change the state constitution because the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that Voter ID proposals were unconstitutional. SJR31, if passed by the legislature, would place a Voter ID constitutional amendment on the statewide ballot in November 2014.
Missouri Voter ID bills are a partisan effort throughout the country widely known to suppress current eligible women, elderly, minority, student and disabled voters. I anticipate these bills will move quickly.
See the recent feature in the Washington Post - Missouri Likely to Pass Voter ID This Year.
GUN LAW NULLIFICATION (2014 VERSION) - SENATE HEARING TUES, JAN 28th
Sen. Brian Nieves, chair of the Senate General Laws Committee heard his SB613for the 2nd week in a row in a standing room only hearing room accompanied by an overflow room. SB613 is similiar to the gun law nullification bill which Governor Nixon vetoed last September.
Members of the St. Louis chapter of Moms Demand Action and Dr. Robert Flood of Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital/St. Louis University Dept. of Pediatrics testified against the bill, emphasizing the gun violence epidemic and how SB613 does nothing to save lives. Following the 1 1/2 hour hearing, it was voted out 6-1 and is now on the Senate Formal Calendar for Perfection. Sen. Nieves prevented any cameras not on a tripod in the hearing room and forbid any media from attending the executive session.
WOMEN'S HEALTH ATTACK - HOUSE HEARING WED, JAN 29th
For the 3rd year in a row, Speaker Tim Jones introduced his "Conscience Bill"HB1430: "Specifies that anyone including any healthcare institution providing medical services cannot be required to perform or participate in activities that violate his or her conscience or principles".
His bill narrows medical procedures liable to: abortion, abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, sterilization which is not medically necessary, assisted reproduction, human cloning, human embryonic stem-cell research, human somatic cell nuclear transfer, fetal tissue research and nontherapeutic fetal experimentation.
Speaker Jones left the hearing immediately after introducing his bill to the committee citing his need "to return to the long line of those waiting outside his office". Dr. Ed Weisbart of St. Louis, former chief medical officer with Express Scripts, was among those testifying in opposition to the bill citing the narrowed scope of principle exemptions that would conflict with a physician's medical oath "to do no harm". The Missouri Hospital Association also testified against HB1430. No executive action was taken following the hearing.
UPDATE ON SCHOOL SECURITY BILL RE KIRKWOOD/KSDK SITUATION
The chair of the House Crime Prevention and Public Safety Committee has agreed to hear HB1522, making it a crime to purposely interfere with security procedures in a public school or building. This is great news! We estimate that the hearing will be held Monday, February 17th at 5pm in the Capitol.
If you or your school administration/school board would like to testify in favor of HB1522 - please let my office know right away - 573.751.0100 or stacey.newman@house.mo.gov.
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