Mike Moon: Voting with the Democrats and protecting children

(By Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove)

Last week at the Missouri Capitol was a full week.

Senate Bill 4

The plan was to 3rd Read bills (the last vote on a bill before it is sent to the other chamber where the process starts over from the beginning).

On the calendar was SB (Senate Bill) 4. The original purpose of the bill was relating to transparency in elementary and secondary education. The “perfected” bill’s purpose was simply relating to elementary and secondary education. A minor change one might say. (Remember the Missouri Constitution, Article III, sections 21 and 23?)

Add to the potential constitutional violation the fact that the “perfection” phase of the legislative process provides ample time to amend a bill. Senators were informed that the bill would be debated well into the night. (When Senate leaders have foreknowledge that a bill will be debated for a long time, schedules will be prepared which indicate when a senator should expect to be in the chamber in case the opposition party might decide to call for an adjournment – like was done in a previous session.)

Senators Meet to Discuss Potential Amendments

With that in mind, at least a half dozen senators met together to discuss amendments to SB 4. Typically, these discussions would take place well before the perfection phase. In the case of SB 4, though, a substitute bill was presented just before the bill was brought up for debate. So, we had not be given sufficient time to consider what was in the bill.

In the chamber, the bill sponsor was fielding questions from the opposition party, in addition to minority members inquiring of other Democrats about the bill’s content. After a short period of inquiry, the chamber fell silent.

What was happening? The bill sponsor, instead of keeping the debate open, closed the debate. A voice vote was called for and, with the prevailing vote, the bill was perfected (a misnomer for certain).

Back to the 3rd Read Vote

To add insult to injury, the bill sponsor admitted that the bill contained parts which needed to be amended. Yet, the bill was passed anyway.

What could have been done? The perfection vote could have been reconsidered (that means, with enough support, the bill could have been “taken back” to the perfection phase (properly amended and later 3rd Read).

So, what were the problem areas in the bill? Briefly, the teaching of CRT was not completely dealt with (concepts which teach children that because of the color of their skin, they might be responsible for the oppression of others whose skin color may be different than theirs), parents and others who pay close attention to what is taught to students may be liable for copyright infringement and face serious financial penalties if they share specific curriculum, and the funding formula for education was affected (using a formula which included foreign-born students – admittedly, most of the funding provision was part of existing law, however, the language presented a problem and proper changes should have been made to address the problem).

How Would You Vote on SB 4?

During the 3rd Read debate (no changes can be made during 3rd Read), it was mentioned that perhaps the House of Representatives could make the necessary changes (While this is possible, in my experience, it’s not always done).

If you knew of the problems with SB 4 prior to the vote, what would you have done?

I voted “no.” As a result, Senate Republican media is spreading information that I voted with the Democrats. (See the image below.)

In this case, a “no” vote was the correct vote.