Kansas City Democrat: I strongly oppose HB 2044 (Ben Baker's library bill)

(From Rep. Ingrid Burnett, D-Kansas City)

“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
― Martin Luther King Jr

.I don’t remember another time since the Civil Rights Movement that this quote was more appropriate than now. 

In our State Capitol we are nearing a tipping point, and there is a growing sense of delirium that is almost palpable. 

Last week, the Senate Committee on Rules heard SJR 38, which intends to overturn the redistricting provisions of Amendment 1 (Clean Missouri). by forcing a vote at the ballot box later this year in an attempt to reverse the redistricting provisions we just voted for in 2019. 

In his State of State address before a joint session on Wednesday, the governor touted changes to the state’s Medicaid program that he said have saved the state $84 million but left out the fact that much of the savings came from purging more than 100,000 Missouri children from the program, most of whom remain eligible for the program. 

In some cases, parents didn’t find out their child had been dropped from until they took their child to the doctor. Governor Parson also came out strongly against Medicaid expansion, which could go on the November ballot via an initiative petition that is being circulated. Parson claimed expansion, which would be 90 percent funded by the federal government, would prove too costly to taxpayers. The evidence from states that have expanded medicaid shows it actually saves money.

We also continue to hear that workforce development is a top priority of this administration, and yet after moving it into the Higher Education and renaming it The Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, none of Missouri’s 13 four-year institutions or 12 local community colleges would enjoy additional funding under the governor’s budget. Our K-12 system didn’t fare much better with a proposed spending increase of just 0.3 percent, and a directive to improve teacher pay without an increase in state spending.

With all of this as a backdrop, HB 2044 was filed and has drawn national attention. 

This bill requires libraries, in addition to their appointed boards, to have a board to oversee "age inappropriate sexual material" and order it removed from the library. 

As of yet, it has not been assigned to a committee hearing, although it could come into play as an amendment later on in session. I strongly oppose this bill and will oppose it if it comes to the floor.