holding kids hostage
Dean Plocher is the Speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives.
A more appropriate title might be "King of the House."
The Speaker controls EVERYTHING.
We've talked about the House Rules before and why this matters, but if you need a refresher take a look at this blog I wrote earlier.
Because the Speaker controls everything, including when bills come to the floor for debate, it gives the Speaker the ability to hold bills hostage until his personal priority bills are passed. Technically, it's the Majority Floor Leader who brings bills to the floor, but it's done so in this case only at the direction of the Speaker.
That's what is happening to The SAFE Act currently.
Dean Plocher is holding the safety of MISSOURI KIDS hostage because he wants his Initiative Petition (HJR 43) bill passed.
The IP bill = abortion & rank choice voting
Let's talk about what Dean wants. He wants HJR 43 passed in its current form.
That current form would do a couple of crappy things that conservative Missourians truly do not want.
- It would allow our Missouri constitution to be changed based on a 57% majority of the popular vote WHEN the ballot measure has been brought BY THE PEOPLE through the IP process. When ballot measures are brought through the legislature, they would pass with a simple majority of the popular vote - 50% + 1 vote. In essence, it elevates the legislature's ability to change the constitution over the people's ability. Can we say double standard??
- With either a 50% or a 57% majority requirement, STILL the urban voters of Kansas City, St Louis, Springfield & Columbia will override the rural voters across the state. THIS means that ABORTION & RANK CHOICE VOTING will be easy amendments to add, enshrining both into our constitution. You can probably expect those on your ballot in November of '24.
Dean Plocher wants this. This is his PRIORITY. Why?
Well that's a great question. He's running for Lt. Governor in '24 and I highly suspect his PAC will be getting generous donations from supporters of rank choice voting and possibly also Washington University - the abortion training ground in Missouri who happens to be represented by Missouri's largest lobbying firm. Time & MEC reports will tell.
plocher for lt governor? I think not!
what can you do?
1. Call & email Plocher. Tell him you want The SAFE ACT (SB 49) on the House floor NOW. It should've been done weeks ago. We have 4 days left of session and the bill needs to pass in the House without any amendments or changes. If the House passes the bill, it will be on its way to the Governor's desk.
Use your own words and fill the email & voicemail inboxes over and over. He likely won't see the emails but his staff is required to track them. Don't let them rest.
Email: dean.plocher@house.mo.gov
Phone: 573.751.1544
2. Call & email Jon Patterson, Majority Floor Leader. Give him the same message.
Phone: 573.751.0907
bill hardwick's mrna amendment
Friday afternoon in the Missouri House of Representatives, God gave us a miracle!
There's not much that I'm thrilled with regarding legislation this session, but this is a major miracle & I can't sit by without giving thanks & praise to Him and the humans who were willing to stand in the gap for our kids!
Representative Bill Hardwick filed HB700 which would've protected employees as well as our school kids from being required to take mRNA vaccines. His original bill made it through both House committees, but Majority Floor Leader Jon Patterson refused to bring it to the floor for debate and a vote.
As a result, Rep. Hardwick chose to take the portion pertaining to school kids and add it as an amendment onto an education related bill. It was a big mountain to climb. Honestly, I had pretty much given up hope that it could happen.
he did it...and it passed!
SB 199, an education related bill sponsored by Senator Holly Rehder, had already made it through the senate and was up for debate in the House. Representative Bishop Davidson was handling it and he made a motion to add a large amendment that addressed several different things.
Rep Hardwick rose to inquire of Rep. Davidson and ask questions about his proposed amendment. While he was speaking, Hardwick's vaccine amendment was filed (thank you Rep Mazzie Boyd for the assist!) and offered as an "amendment to the amendment."
Rep Hardwick's presentation of his amendment was wonderful. The PQ halted all conversations about it and brought the issue to a vote. Thankfully, Hardwick called for a roll call vote, which records each legislator's vote. I've shown those votes below.
watch it happen
This is a video of Rep Hardwick presenting the amendment and the vote. I hope you'll watch!! He did an excellent job!
In the video, Hardwick mentions the Governor having the opinion that we shouldn't require Covid vaccines. He posted that opinion publicly on Twitter in the fall of 2022. He stated clearly that the government should not require Covid vaccines in schools.
We'll see if Governor Parson will stick to his word or try to squirm his out of protecting our kids to keep Pfizer happy.
here's the vote
republicans who voted 'no' with democrats
what's next?
I wish I could tell you that this was a done deal but we still have a ways to go. The bill now will go back to the Senate. Since it originated in the Senate and now has been changed by the House, the senate has 3 options. In order to pass a bill, BOTH chambers (House & Senate) have to agree on the final form - including every tiny detail.
When SB 199 is back in the senate, these are the options:
- Senate leadership could refuse to even take it up for a vote. This would kill the bill and our amendment.
- Senate leadership can refuse to adopt all the changes, but send it to a Conference Committee, consisting of 5 from the House & 5 from the Senate. The committee would meet, make a deal and then take the final version back to both chambers for a final vote.
- Senate leadership can choose to bring it up AND bring it to a vote.
please pray!
We only have 96 hours of session left. Time is running out & we need this amendment to pass for the sake of our kids! Please pray that God moves more mountains for this amendment to pass!
please take action.
You can help make your wishes known by making 2 phone calls and sending 2 emails. Tell them why you DON'T want schools requiring any type of mRNA vaccine and we want to keep Rep Hardwick's amendment to that effect. Be sure to politely ask for SB 199 to be brought to the floor for a vote or sent to conference committee.
1. Cindy O'Laughlin, Senate Majority Floor Leader
573-751-7985
2. Senator Holly Rehder
573-751-2459
last stop - the senate floor
There are a few bills have already passed the MO House floor and have made their way through Senate committee. The last big hurdle on their path to the Governor's desk is the perfection process on the Senate floor.
This is, in reality, your LAST OPPORTUNITY to effectively use your voice to stop another layer of your freedom & the Republic being stripped away. Please read & pass this information on to your like-minded friends and family!!
House Bills on Third Read in the Senate as of 4/17/23 are:
HB 301 (discussed below)
HB 253 - Open Enrollment
HB 827 - Missouri Virtual School Enrollment
HBs 903, 465, 430, 499- Foreign Land Ownership
HJR 43 - Modifies Initiative Petition & MO Constitution Amendment Ratification
hb 301 - privacy actS, blair's law & local control
HB 301 is a public safety bill. The underlying bill has some problems I'll list here, but my pet peeve on this one is an amendment added to it, a "privacy act", by Representative Rudy Veit on the House floor that is a huge violation of your First Amendment Right of free speech. It protects elected officials and squelches the voices of THE PEOPLE.
The Privacy Act details are listed here first while the rest are in chronological order.
Privacy Acts
There are 2 sections that deal with protecting privacy of elected officials. The first is specific to protecting judicial officers. The second is protecting "elected officials" across the state of Missouri, including ALL political subdivisions. This would apply to all elected officials from the Governor to your city council and school board members.
- Page 22. Section 575.095 protects Judicial Officers. We already have a current statute that is being amended with an addition. The regular text here is current statute while the bold print is being added.
The Problem: If you disseminate by ANY means, ANY of these "private" details listed here (some of which are actually public information) you could be charged with a Class D Felony, which carries the potential of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
- Page 23. Section 578.710 - This section covers all elected officials in Missouri. See full text of this section below.
The definition of "personal information" in current statute is:
Both these sections create a huge problem for citizens who are actively working to participate in any type of government process. The way this language is written, I could be committing a felony if I publish this blog - which is naming Representative Rudy Veit and yes, I AM hoping to influence him along with other elected officials in their job performance.
I would potentially be committing a felony if I told you I ran into Senator Moon and his wife, Denise, while I was at a meeting in town and we discussed SB 49, The SAFE Act.
Ultimately - any good attorney could make the case that we are always trying to influence their job performance and if you share or share their name or phone number - you could end up in prison.
blair's law
Blair's Law is a well intentioned section of the bill which tries to protect citizens inside city limits from stray bullets fired primarily from celebratory gunfire. However, it doesn't protect citizens from firing weapons on their own property if those bullets do not leave their property.
A suggested language addition written by Ron Calzone would be to add a 4th point on Line 34 of page 22 which reads,
"4. Notwithstanding this section, or any other statute to the contrary, no order, ordinance, or regulation by any political subdivision of this state shall prohibit a person from discharging a firearm in an otherwise lawful manner as long as the projectile does not leave property by such person or property owned by another person from whom he or she has received permission to discharge a firearm."
local control
The first section of HB 301 allows the Governor to appoint a special prosecutor based on certain circumstances pertaining to total homicide cases. It would be advisable in order to protect local control to the fullest measure possible that this appointment would be made not only by the Governor but also with the advice & consent of the Senate, and also triggered by something other than total case load. Another possible trigger might be the number of cases not being addressed.
take action
1. Email YOUR Senator as well as EVERY Republican Senator and let them know you oppose 3 specific areas of HB 301. Look up your legislators HERE.
Republican Senators are listed HERE.
The pattern for senate email addresses is FIRST NAME (.) LAST NAME@Senate.Mo.Gov
- Delete the privacy acts in sections 575 & 578. They are potentially harmful to our first amendment rights and need to be stripped from the bill. Our elected officials are already protected - as we all are - from any criminal harm.
- Copy & paste the additional language above and request it to be added to Blair's Law, section 571.031.
- Request more protections for local control be added to Section 56.601 by making the suggested changes above.
It was a great day worshipping at the Capitol this afternoon!! Here are some photos. God moved in amazing ways & I’m blessed to have an opportunity to meet with Turning Point USA Faith tonight.
So, I’m going where the Holy Spirit is leading & we’ll reschedule our Zoom.
Have a great evening!
protect the mo constitution
If you have been following and supporting the journey of what is called Concurrent Majority Ratification (CMR) of the Missouri Constitution, NOW is the time to take action! If you aren't familiar, I've written a couple blogs previously on the topic. Check those out for background info.
current situation
HJR 43 is in the Senate. It's a proposal to change the simple majority ratification we have now to 60% majority.
What we want is to change that 60% majority ratification to concurrent majority ratification based on Missouri House Districts. This would mean that in order for our state constitution to be changed, we would need a simple majority of voters in favor AND a majority of House Districts in favor. This would mean that every Missourian would be well represented because the House districts are the smallest political subdivisions.
HJR 43 has been through the senate committee and is heading for the Senate floor where we hope it is amended. Senator Sandy Crawford is the bill handler.
what to do
1. Email your own Missouri Senator.
Ask if they will "go on the record as supporting concurrent majority ratification (CMR) of our state constitution based on House districts with their vote." State in your email that Senator Sandy Crawford has asked to hear from him/her in regard to his/her preference.
Encourage him to vote for CMR based on House districts in order to best represent every Missourian. We do NOT want a 60% majority ratification process based or a CMR process based on Congressional districts.
A short email might look like this:
Dear Senator _____,
I am writing today to ask if you would vote FOR concurrent majority ratification of our state constitution based on House districts. I am in favor of this because it ensures every Missourian is well represented in the changing of our constitution. I have serious concerns about CMR based on congressional districts, and I absolutely oppose a 60% majority ratification.
Can I count on your vote for CMR based on House districts? If not, why and what is your preference?
Senator Sandy Crawford is asking for your input before 3pm today and I'm asking for a written response as well.
Thank. you for your time. Have a great day.
2. Call your Senator's office and refer them to your email. Tell them you've emailed regarding CMR and would like a response in writing. If you gain info on the phone, write it down and let me know.
3. When you get a response vie email or statement, please forward the email to me at jodi@jodigrace.com.
when to do it? NOW!!
PLEASE drop what you are doing & take 5 minutes to take care of this right now.
This may be our last chance to ensure that EVERY Missourian is represented well in our changes to the Missouri constitution moving forward.
