2025 Legislative Session Recap

The 2025 Missouri legislative session ended last week with some controversy and tension as the Senate invoked Previous Question, or “PQ”, to cut off debate. The Senate employed this “nuclear option” to force a vote on two bills that were in direct contradiction to laws passed by the majority of Missouri voters in the November 2024 election. The use of PQ cleared the way for passage of:

• HB 567, which repeals the paid sick leave provisions of Proposition A and removes the automatic inflation adjustments for Missouri’s minimum wage.
• HJR 73, which places a proposed constitutional amendment with new abortion restrictions back on the ballot. 

PQ is seldom used in the Missouri Senate because it stops deliberation and undermines the chamber’s tradition of extended debate and negotiation. It remains to be seen how the use of Previous Question at the end of this session will impact Senate operations next session. 

What Passed and What Didn’t: A Look at Empower Missouri’s Priority Issues

Want a deeper dive into the session? Be sure to join us for our Legislative Recap Webinar, where we’ll cover the bills that passed and those that stalled. In the meantime, here’s a brief summary of what happened in Empower Missouri’s core issue areas:

Affordable Housing

• Improving the “Circuit Breaker” property tax credit – A fix that increases the property tax credit that helps seniors and people with disabilities keep their homes passed as part of a capital gains income tax exemption bill. The circuit breaker provision increases both the income eligibility and credit amount for seniors and those with disabilities and builds in automatic future increases based on inflation.

• Preemption of local source of income discrimination bans – Legislation that blocked local governments from banning discrimination based on source of income was passed and signed by Governor Kehoe. 

• Prohibiting local landlord licensing and registration requirements – A bill prohibiting local governments from imposing landlord registration requirements including “healthy homes” programs did not pass. We expect this bill to be refiled next legislative session. 

Community Justice

• Clean Slate –  Bills to automate the expungement of qualifying records were introduced in both chambers. Representative Bishop Davidson’s bill advanced further than any previous efforts, laying critical groundwork for next year’s session.   

• Department of Corrections Independent Oversight – Bipartisan bills to provide independent oversight of the Missouri Department of Corrections were introduced in both chambers. These bills did not pass either chamber. 

• Increased prison sentences – HB 862, which would have dramatically increased prison sentences and prison costs, did not pass. 

• State takeover of the St. Louis Police Department – HB 495, which reestablished state control over the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department was passed and signed into law by Gov. Kehoe in April. More details about the bill’s impact were discussed in our April 3rd webinar. Empower Missouri led the opposition against this bill’s passage for the last five years, and condemned its passage. Still, we were able to have language that would have drastically infringed on Missourians’ right to protest stripped from the bill, and there were a number of positive provisions passed as part of this criminal justice omnibus bill. 

Food Security

• Food Pantry Tax Credit – Bills to remove the penalty when residents only receive partial tax credit for donations to food pantries moved in both the Senate and House. Unfortunately, the bills did not ultimately make it to final passage. 
• SNAP Food Choice Restrictions – Despite tremendous pressure from the Federal government, Missouri did not pass bills further restricting which food participants can purchase with their SNAP benefits.
• Free School Meals – Bills were introduced in both chambers to expand access to free school meals. Unfortunately, none of the bills advanced to a hearing. 
• SNAP Lifetime Ban Opt Out – Bills to remove the lifetime ban on SNAP for certain drug felonies did not pass this session.

This session marked my first with Empower Missouri, and while there were setbacks, I’m encouraged by the resilience and collaboration of our statewide advocacy community.

We saw what’s possible when we work together:

• Over 30 partners submitted written testimony against longer prison sentences.
• Food security advocates and business leaders joined forces to protect SNAP food choices.
• Over 80 partners submitted written testimony in support of Clean Slate.
  

Let’s use the legislative break to build power. If you’re ready to sharpen your advocacy skills, I invite you to sign up for our Civic Engagement 101 and Federal Advocacy 101 trainings this summer. If you want to partner on strategies for the next legislative session, I invite you to join one of our coalitions.