01/20/25 Missouri Mondays - “Do Not Despair! We Have Work To Do!” / MOLeg updates / Repro Freedom Lobby Day Jan 22 / More events, ways to take action!
Welcome to Missouri Mondays, January 20, 2025.
This is not the day millions of Americans had imagined or hoped for. But do not despair. We have work to do!
As *Sherrilyn Ifill writes,“With delicious anticipation, we imagined it. The first Black woman president, being sworn into office by the first Black woman Supreme Court Justice on Martin Luther King Day. It was a very particular, powerful, vindicating dream. Especially for “the 92%,” especially - the Black women who had worked hard, stood ten-toes-down for democracy, demanding to be seen – flexing our economic and organizing power over decades to arrive at this moment – there was to be sweet satisfaction in the confirmation of our ascendant political power.
But this was not meant to be.
In what seems a cruel irony – the candidate who, in his racism, his misogyny, his rapacious cruelty and indecency, stands for everything we have stood and worked against – will instead be inaugurated as President on King Day this year. The disappointment, the insult even, feels profound and bitter for tens of millions of Americans who believed that voters in this country would turn resoundingly away from fascism and towards democracy.
Rather than focusing on the disappointment, I have come to another way of looking at where this country finds itself on Martin Luther King Day 2025. In fact, I have come to see how critical it is for us to prove, this year especially, that we have truly absorbed the work and words of Dr. King. King Day always calls on us to challenge ourselves and our country, and this year is no different. In fact this year demands that we honor Dr. King’s work and his unceasing belief and demand that we do the work of confronting the truth that lies at the heart of this country and the truth of our own hearts, as prerequisites to building and sustaining a nation that would resemble “the beloved community.”
Sign up for Sherrilyn Ifill’s newsletter and support her work here: https://sherrilyn.substack.com/
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Turning our attention back to Missouri—
Last week Republican Mike Kehoe was sworn in as our 58th governor. In his inaugural address, Kehoe pledged to focus on improving public safety, providing additional tax cuts and further expanding public funding of private and parochial schools.
Gov. Kehoe signed six executive orders generally relating to public safety, including two on immigration. One authorizes state troopers to participate in a training program to assist federal officials in enforcing immigration laws, while the other calls for tracking the immigration status of those charged with state crimes. A series of state House committee hearings last year revealed that undocumented immigrants are far less likely than citizens to commit crimes but far more likely to be crime victims.
The other executive orders are aimed at improving regional cooperation to apprehend fugitives, expanding law enforcement grant opportunities for local communities, adjusting the State Highway Patrol’s pay structure and creating a task force to review state probation and parole procedures.
Gov. Kehoe also said he’s interested in expanding the recently created voucher program authorizing tax credits to fund tuition to private and parochial schools and wants to eliminate the state’s individual income tax, which provides nearly two-thirds of state general revenue collections. He has not stated how that lost revenue would be replaced.
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“Defining fetal viability among GOP priorities after Missourians overturn abortion ban”
“The day he was sworn in as speaker of the Missouri House, Jon Patterson declared that defining fetal viability could be a difficult task.
A surgeon serving his fourth term in the legislature, Patterson said despite the vagueness of the medical phrase, the decision by voters to overturn Missouri’s abortion ban means lawmakers have no choice but to try.”
“What I’ll tell you is, if you took 10 doctors and lined them up and said ‘what’s the definition of fetal viability,’ you’d get 10 different answers,” Patterson said at a press conference last week. “Our citizens deserve to know what these are, and I think that’s a debate worth having.”
“We owe it to voters to address this issue in a way that reflects the values of our state,” Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin said earlier this month. “Whether that means pursuing a full repeal or making adjustments — such as including exceptions for certain cases — I’m committed to ensuring the laws governing this issue are both transparent and reflective of what Missourians truly want.”
“Like all attempts to legislate, regulate pregnancy care in general, it’s dangerous,” Dr. Colleen McNicholas, chair of the Missouri section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said. “It means that you are trying to force an incredible variation of gray spectrum into a black or white box, which means that no matter what, people will be getting the wrong care, and care driven by politics and not by healthcare or science.”
Full story here: https://missouriindependent.com/2025/01/17/missouri-fetal-viability-abortion-ban-jon-patterson/ Missouri Independent Jan 17 2025
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Connect with your state elected officials! Stay up to date and make your voice heard!
Connect with your State Representative and State Senator and sign up for their legislative newsletters to stay up to date. To find your elected officials, enter your address in the legislator lookup here: https://www.senate.mo.gov/LegisLookup/Default
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Thank you for staying informed and taking action with us for a better Missouri for all! Your voice is powerful and together we make a difference! Help us spread the word by sharing this email and the link to sign up here: https://www.moactionalliance.com/signup
UPCOMING EVENTS / WAYS TO GET INVOLVED!
*MISSOURI VOTER PROTECTION COALITION (MOVPC) MEETING
MONDAY MORNINGS at 10AM
Online (Zoom)
To sign up text “MOVPC” to 66866 or register here: bit.ly/protectmovoters
Protecting the vote requires our continued attention! Join MOVPC Democracy Defenders across the state to learn how you can get involved with the fight to protect voting rights for all Missourians!
DONATE TO MOVPC
Help Missouri Voter Protection Coalition lead the fight against attacks on our freedom to vote in the statehouse, in the courthouse, in the media, in the streets and at the polls on Election Day. Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/movpc
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Kansas City Metro MLK Day Events - Monday January 20
Find Martin Luther King Jr. Day events across the KC metro. Details here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article298712343.html
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THIS WEDNESDAY IN JEFFERSON CITY!
Reproductive Freedom Day of Action - Defend Amendment 3!
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
9:00AM - 12:30PM
Missouri State Capitol - Rotunda
Jefferson City, MO
Sign up here: https://secure.everyaction.com/awppk2XtBEK6R8iDr3LwOA2
Join Abortion Action Missouri, the ACLU of Missouri, Action St. Louis, Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, Planned Parenthood Great Rivers Action, and PROMO for a special day of action in Jefferson City on Wednesday, January 22. As politicians begin their work for the 2025 legislative session, we need to show them that people across Missouri are ready to take action to defend the Reproductive Freedom we enshrined in our state Constitution with Amendment 3.
Let’s rally to show our support for Reproductive Freedom for all and show our elected officials the vast support that exists for abortion access in their district!
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NEXT WEEK IN JEFFERSON CITY!
Missouri Voter Protection Coalition
2025 Missouri Voting Rights Legislative Day
Tuesday, January 28
11:00AM - 3:00PM
Missouri State Capitol - Rotunda
Jefferson City, MO
Sign up here: bit.ly/Jan28Lobby
Join Missouri Voter Advocates for 2025 Voting Rights Legislative Day at the Missouri State Capitol. Learn about legislation impacting our democracy and meet with lawmakers. We come together to call on lawmakers to protect direct democracy through Missouri's citizen initiative process, and to protect election workers and ensure voting is accessible to all Missourians. Join advocates from across Missouri in a nonpartisan Pro-Democracy Day at the Capitol to hear what's at stake for voting rights in Missouri, get engaged, and thank lawmakers who have stood up for our freedom to vote.
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More Ways to Get Involved! Organizations Need You!
*Find additional events, resources, organizations that need your help here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19AZUdtRH5WXefOC4Q5D9u-HyuzhBEL8rYX9Ospn3n18/edit?tab=t.0
MISSOURI VOTER RESOURCES
Find your Current State Elected Officials and U.S. Elected Officials
Enter your address to search for your electeds here: https://www.senate.mo.gov/LegisLookup/Default
Next election: April 2, 2025. Register to vote by March 6.
Check your registration on the MO Secretary of State website: https://voteroutreach.sos.mo.gov/portal/
Missouri Voter Protection Voter Eligibility & Registration Guidance: https://www.movpc.org/missouri-voter-eligibility-and-registration
Identify your local election authority: https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/localelectionauthority
Do you have your voter ID? Approved forms of ID are listed below (your address does not need to match the address on the ID):
A non-expired* Missouri driver or non-driver license;
A non-expired military ID, including a veteran's ID card;
A non-expired United States passport; or
Another photo ID issued by the United States or the state of Missouri, which is either not expired *or expired after November 8, 2022.
Voter ID cards issued by your county clerk, driver licenses from other states, and student IDs are no longer accepted as valid IDs to vote.
MISSOURI LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Week of January 13-17 - MO House and Senate Dem Newletter Excerpts
Last week Republican Mike Kehoe was sworn in as Missouri’s 58th governor. In his inaugural address, Kehoe pledged to focus on improving public safety, providing additional tax cuts and further expanding public funding of private and parochial schools. His specific policy goals will be detailed in his State of the State address next week on January 28.
Gov. Kehoe signed six executive orders generally relating to public safety, including two on immigration. One authorizes state troopers to participate in a training program to assist federal officials in enforcing immigration laws, while the other calls for tracking the immigration status of those charged with state crimes. A series of state House committee hearings last year revealed that undocumented immigrants are far less likely than citizens to commit crimes but far more likely to be crime victims.
The other executive orders are aimed at improving regional cooperation to apprehend fugitives, expanding law enforcement grant opportunities for local communities, adjusting the State Highway Patrol’s pay structure and creating a task force to review state probation and parole procedures.
Gov. Kehoe also said he’s interested in expanding the recently created voucher program authorizing tax credits to fund tuition to private and parochial schools and wants to eliminate the state’s individual income tax, which provides nearly two-thirds of state general revenue collections. He has not stated how that lost revenue would be replaced.
The individual income tax rate paid by the overwhelming majority of Missourians had remained at 6 percent since the early 1970s until the Republican majority began reducing it in recent years. The main rate currently stands at 4.7 percent but is already slated to drop to 4.5 percent in the coming years provided that certain minimum revenue collection thresholds are met.
Kehoe, who just completed his tenure as lieutenant governor and previously served as a state senator, replaces fellow Republican Mike Parson, who served more than six and half years in the post. Parson, who had been lieutenant governor, was elevated to chief executive in June 2018 following the resignation of his scandal-plagued predecessor Eand won a full term in 2020.
The other statewide officials, all Republicans, who were sworn in alongside Kehoe were Lt. Gov. David Wasinger, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, State Treasurer Vivek Malek and Attorney General Andrew Bailey. Malek and Bailey both won full terms in November after Parson appointed them to fill vacancies in their respective offices in January 2022.
MISSOURI MONDAYS NEWS SUPPLEMENT!
With so much important news each week we don’t want you to miss a thing! Check out our MISSOURI MONDAYS NEWS SUPPLEMENT here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13cokjWlCh2EkY5K6bM357rjVPizZDzxlMqjAuoBQfoI/edit?usp=sharing
THANK YOU! for staying informed and taking action to make a difference!
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