I'm running short on time this morning, so I'll get back later with the details in case you'd like to know them.
We aren't going to get anything remotely close to what we actually really want as far as disempowering the Speaker and Majority Floor Leader. However, we are hoping to amend HR 11 so that it isn't as bad as originally written.
Specifically, we need Rep. Chris Sander's amendment to pass today.
Jon Patterson, the Majority Floor Leader and sponsor of HR 11, added an additional step in the process of a bill going from a standing committee to a rules committee. They put the power back in the hands of the speaker to hold a bill for 10 legislative days. That length of time is at least 2 and a half weeks which is significant enough to delay the process so that the bill doesn't have time to pass.
They also gave the Speaker power to choose which rules committee it goes to. There are 3. There's a total of about 30 representatives between 3 committees. If we don't know which rules committee the bill is going to, we have a MUCH less opportunity to reach the appropriate representatives that will actually see the bill.
A. The Speaker shouldn't solely get to choose which standing committee AND which rules committee the bill goes through. It should be an automatic process, as it has always been. ie, The Education Committee bills go to Rules Committee A. Always.
B. The Speaker shouldn't have the power to hold up a bill for 2 1/2 weeks, which is significant to the process.
Representative Chris Sander has filed an amendment that would help. His amendment says that the Speaker will work with the Bill Sponsor in deciding which rules committee the bill will go through. This is a crumb and likely won't make a tremendous difference as the Speaker will bully Sponsors into what they want anyway, but at least there would be another voice involved in the process.
use your voice
Please call your Representative!
1. Request a YES vote on Chris Sander's amendment. This one affords power to the Sponsor in choosing a rules committee vs the Speaker having sole authority.
2. Request a YES vote on Crossley's amendment. This one allows the committee members to vote on their Chair and Vice Chair vs the Speaker having the sole authority to appoint them. Crossley is a democrat.
3. Request a YES vote on Nurrenbern's amendment. This one puts limits on the Majority Floor Leader having control over representatives ability to speak. Nurrenbern is a democrat.
4. Request a YES vote on Strickler's amendment. This one allows Missouri resident's testimony to be heard before non-resident's in a public hearing.
Be short, to the point and respectful. Express the overall opinion that you want power spread among the representatives as much as possible vs the Speaker having total control. We want Republican reps to vote in a way to benefit ALL of Missouri REGARDLESS of the fact that the amendments are offered by democrats.
Links below.
links for reference
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Leadership roles in the missouri house
Speaker of the House - Dean Plocher
Majority Floor Leader - Jon Patterson
These two been voted into the top two House leadership roles for the 102nd Missouri General Assembly (MOGA). The 102nd session will extend from 2023 through the end of session in 2024. They'll have these positions two years.
The specifics on how they got voted in and what that process looked like is a story for another time, but suffice it to say that election machine glitches don't just happen in Arizona.
why the rules of the house are important
The bottom line is the Rules of the House dictate how a bill moves through the process of being passed. They literally change how a bill becomes law, who has authority and power at what points in the process, who gets to vote, who gets to speak and for how long, who allows reps to speak on issues, who chooses which bills go before a committee or even get to be voted on and so much more.
Yes, our Constitution says a bill will pass through the House, but the Rules of the House dictate how that happens and it's the representatives themselves who write the rules and vote to approve them at the beginning of each session.
If you didn't read the article from yesterday, check it out for more info.
top-down power means unequal representation of the people
The problem with the Rules of the House is that they have been top-down for far too long and it started way before Plocher. The Speaker of the House has entirely too much power and it wouldn't matter if my favorite rep had the position - it's still wrong.
The Majority Floor Leader, in this case we have Jon Patterson, also has a lot of power individually to allow bills to move forward or to stop them.
What happens is these two individuals regardless of who they are set the agenda for the entire House. They choose priorities and EVERYONE who has been around the capitol for any amount of time knows that what leadership wants - leadership gets.
A previous Speaker has even said something to the tune of it's pretty much a waste to even come to work if you aren't the Speaker.
This means YOU aren't truly being represented if your rep isn't in a leadership role!! Our rank & file members are nearly hog-tied as far as being able to accomplish anything at all.
So if the Speaker & Majority Floor Leader have all the power, how does your rep get anything done??
rank & file member success
Because of the current power structure, our "rank & file" House members have very little ability to get anything at all accomplished unless they can barter with the Speaker or attach something they want onto a bill they know leadership is pushing.
This is one reason we end up with "Kitchen Sink" bills that have so many things added to them that truly shouldn't be. Just like in DC, they pass huge omnibus bills that may have 15 horrendous things included but they all vote yes to get their one tiny little nugget of goodness (we hope) across the line.
a lobbyist's dream come true
This top down situation breeds corruption faster than Superman can fly home.
Questions:
If you were a lobbyist, who would you be most concerned about wining & dining?
Whose campaign fund and PAC would you probably want to add to your contribution list?
Answer:
If you were a lobbyist or even another politician, you'd be a fool to look at the members as equal. They aren't. You'd first fill the Speaker's "war chest" as much as possible, then add to the Majority Floor Leader's and whatever you have leftover from your budget would get spread among the Committee Chairs that you'll need and maybe a few key committee members.
results of this corrupt system
- Lobbyists paying leadership via campaign funds and PACS to pass their agendas. Check out the MEC contribution reports for the HRCC (House Republican Campaign Committee). This is the PAC where you'll see large donations from House members who somehow usually seem to end up in Committee Chair or leadership positions. It's a very interesting phenomenon that happens pretty regularly. You can also look up campaign committees of legislators and their PACS. That's also a post for another day.
- Members seeking higher levels of leadership so they, too, can have that power. They end up being just like the lobbyists. They make contributions to those same funds and PACS so they can get things accomplished or have a higher position.
- THE PEOPLE LOSE. We lose our representation. Our voices lose their power.
- It is no longer a government BY the PEOPLE and FOR the PEOPLE. It's by the lobby corp and for the greedy.
does it have to be this way? no.
They can do whatever they want. They can write the rules however they want. Period.
has it always been this way? no.
It has been for a long time and it's getting worse as time goes on because our reps don't even realize they don't have to give up their voices. But no, it's hasn't always been this way. Check out yesterday's post about the rules in 1869.
"jodi, those old rules don't apply today!"
I understand. Not every line of the People's House Rules fits our situation now and even some of the details aren't perfect in my opinion, but the HEART & INTENT of those rules is what we need. Badly. And that's the point. However, I'd still much rather have the People's House Rules as they are written than HR 11 (the newly proposed rules) as it is written. At the very least, the People's House Rules are a much better starting place than HR 11.
We CAN empower our representatives to do what they were elected to do in a fair & equal fashion.
We CAN make it more difficult for special interest groups vs lining the pockets of big business and greedy politicians.
We CAN. They CAN. The real question is - will they?
take action today!
1. Submit testimony that you are in OPPOSITION to HR 11. It's easy and online. Just fill out the form. In the comment section, you can simply write something as simple as "I do not want a top-down power structure in the Mo House."
2. Attend the hearing. 1:00 pm Monday, 1/9/23 in House Hearing Room 3.
3. Call and/or email your representative and express your thoughts. Look up your legislator and their contact info HERE.
resources
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I apologize ahead of time for the length of this article. I know it's long, but please stick with me to the end. You'll find the Call to Action there.
Here's an Index of Section Titles to help you navigate and reference later.
1. House Rules - What Are They?
2. One Example of How It Has Been
3. One Example of a Proposed Change
4. Other Problems in the Current & Proposed Rules
5. What We Need
6. Take Action to Help
7. References
8. Stay Informed
The 2023 Missouri legislative session hasn't even gotten started and already the MO House leadership is stripping even more power away from our elected representatives via the MO House Rules, HR 11.
House Rules - What Are They?
Each session, the MO House members vote on a set of rules that govern the process of passing legislation in the House as well as laying out the function of specific roles of individual positions, committees, etc. The rules of the House are just that - the rules the House must follow.
You might think these are just procedural and not really a big deal. But, in fact, the rules change EVERYTHING. The rules change how the House functions and the rules dictate who truly holds power and has authority.
The MO Senate also has a set of rules. They are completely different and totally separate from the House rules. Rules are voted on by each chamber's members each session.
one example of how it has been
For quite some time, the House rules have dictated that the Speaker of the House has the sole responsibility to appoint Committee Chairs AND members to each committee. He also is the only person allowed to refer bills to committees or he can choose not to refer them to committee at all. He can also remove representatives from committees.
Can you see where this might be a problem?
He chooses the Chair. He chooses the members. He chooses the bills they hear or don't hear. If someone isn't pleasing him on the committee, he can pull that representative off OR better yet, just stack the committee with additional members willing to vote his preference.
one example of a proposed change
Let's compare just one aspect of the new rules to the rules of last session. How does a bill go through committee and arrive on the House floor where ALL the members of the House can vote?
If the new rules are passed, the Speaker has EVEN MORE power than he has ever had before... and last year was bad enough.
Do you see the problem? We already had a problem with the Speaker having so much power but now it's even worse. If the new rules are passed, OUR elected representatives voting in committees now mean NOTHING. All regular standing committees have just lost ANY power they may have had previously.
It's in these standing committees where citizens have an opportunity to make your voice be heard. Standing committees are required to have a public hearing where Missourians are able to come voice their experiences and opinions on important matters before a vote is taken. It's the ONLY opportunity within the process where THE PEOPLE's voice goes on record. And now.... those hearing won't matter. The committee really doesn't even matter at all.
We could have a committee hearing with 100's of Missourians weighing in, the committee passes the bill & the Speaker can choose to kill it by not sending it on to the next step in the process.
This is just one example. There are MANY problems with the new rules and this is just the tip of the iceberg, but I feel this one might be the most important point.
We CANNOT have ONE. MAN. having this much power across the entire state when he was only elected as a representative of approximately 30,000 people.
A FEW OTHER (not all) PROBLEMS WITH THE RULES
- CURRENT & PROPOSED VERSION - Speaker of the House has all the power. It's worse in the proposed version but it's already horrible. It disempowers our elected representatives and, therefore, every citizen.
- CURRENT & PROPOSED VERSION - Leadership has the ability to select who can speak on the floor. If your representative wants to speak on a bill, they can literally stand all afternoon and not be called on by leadership. Leadership decides who speaks and in what order and they can choose NOT to allow them to speak.
- CURRENT & PROPOSED VERSION - Leadership can force a representative to shut up & sit down. It's a procedural move called a PQ. If the Majority Floor Leader & Speaker decide they are don't listening to a rep, they call for a PQ that forces the speaking rep to sit down immediately. This is NOT equal and fair representation.
- CURRENT & PROPOSED VERSION - There are no set schedules to the House business. This means they save all the important stuff for the end of session and create organized chaos pushing things through at warp speed, which is exactly what the lobbyists want and it's another issue that removes power from the people to participate effectively.
- CURRENT & PROPOSED VERSION - Entirely too many bills are filed. The proposed version limits that number to 20 but that is still way too many. There are 164 reps. If they each file 20 bills that is 3,280 bills each session. They file them knowing nothing will happen with 98% of them anyway. They do it only to be able to tell their constituents they did it. It's a waste of time and resources.
- NEWLY PROPOSED VERSION - Speaker can limit times of debate. Again.. the Speaker shouldn't have all the power. This leaves our elected representatives powerless.
- NEWLY PROPOSED VERSION - House members cannot request a hearing of bills in Rules Committee. This means your representative has ZERO influence on bills making their way through the process unless it comes to a House floor vote which is harder now than ever before if it's something the Speaker doesn't want to pass.
- NEWLY PROPOSED VERSION - Addition of another Rules Committee. It's just not necessary. They are making it bigger vs downsizing.
- NEWLY PROPOSED VERSION - Committee Chairs will now be required to attend training. Guess who will dictate the training? So the Speaker chooses them then will line them up and train them how he wants them to behave in case anyone isn't on the same page.
what we need: the people's house rules
We need to return to what our Founding Fathers in Missouri intended for the rules to be. This past year a team of citizens did some digging through the oldest archives that could be found. We discovered House Rules dating all the way back to 1869.
In 1869, it was a completely different ballgame. It was set up to benefit the people and it did not give power to only one or two people. Imagine that!
The Speaker was truly just a facilitator of the agenda for the day.
Committees functioned much differently. They issued OPINIONS on bills but they didn't have power to kill them. ALL the representatives were able to weigh in and vote on each bill and every bill arrived on the floor because of this.
There are several differences - too many to list but needless to say it's a refreshing document to read.
We've rewritten a set of rules inspired by those written in 1869 which would bring balance of power back to our House and ensure fair and equal representation for all Missourians.
We are calling them the PEOPLE'S HOUSE RULES. Here are some highlights.
- Session days start at 8:00am and ends at 10:00pm unless the Governor declares a State of Emergency.
- Speaker elected by majority party OR rotated on a daily basis based on House district numbers and seniority starting at 1.
- Committees appointed by request or blind drawing if there are too many requests.
- All members may file only three bills, rated according to their priority. Each representative will have their #1 priority bill heard by committee with a public hearing and on the floor before any priority #2 bills are heard.
In a nutshell, the People's House Rules return the balance of powers back to all our elected representatives and gives THE PEOPLE of Missouri fair and equal representation.
take action to help!
1. Submit Testimony - Fill out the form IN OPPOSITION to the rules. You can enter a statement if you choose. It's not required. Please be sure to complete the email verification process in order for your testimony to be submitted.
2. Attend the Hearing in Person - 1:00 pm Monday, 1/9/23 in Hearing Room 3. If you'd like to come but need help with any aspect of your trip, please let me know. I'll be here to help with all the details.
3. Call & Email Your Representative - Look up your Legislator HERE.
- Tell them you OPPOSE HR 11 and you are requesting a NO vote.
- Ask them to request a "Roll Call Vote" every time they are able in regard to this issue. We need a roll call vote so that we can see who voted in favor or in opposition. Otherwise, it's a voice vote and we can't hold any of them accountable.
- Tell them you want the "People's House Rules" and attach the PDF to your email. You can find it below. Download the PDF to your computer then attach it to your email.
references
THE NEWLY PROPOSED RULES. You can see where the changes are being made. New additions are underlined. Deletions are struck out.
stay informed & Sign up for blog updates!
I've spent my time focusing on incumbent races in the Missouri Senate this campaign season. Because of that, I've spent many hours with these candidates getting to know them and praying for victory on August 2nd.
I have recommendations in other races, but these 5 candidates have my wholehearted, FULL support & endorsement.
we are flipping RINOs out when these candidates win
PLEASE share this information with everyone you know who lives in these Missouri Senate districts. Missouri NEEDS these victories if we want to see a return to conservative policy making!
District 6 - Scott Riedel: Cole, Camden, Moniteau, Miller, Morgan (Central MO including Jefferson City, Lake of the Ozarks, Camdenton)
District 8 - Joe Nicola: Jackson County (KC area)
District 16 - Suzie Pollock: Phelps, Pulaski, Laclede, Dent, Maries, Wright (Rolla, Lebanon, Waynesville, Mtn Grove, Salem, Vienna)
District 30 - Angela Romine: Greene County (Springfield city limits)
District 32 - Jill Carter: Jasper, Newton (Joplin, Neosho)
why not senator justin brown?
Let's keep it simple, because there's a lot of info and it's easy to get overwhelmed. We'll keep it in list form and number the blogs so you won't miss anything.
1. he votes with democrats 85% of the time.
Check out this scorecard. We tracked 21 votes over 2 years. Out of those 21 votes, he only upheld the Republican platform 3 times. You can download the scorecard and print it out if you'd like to see the details more clearly.
In this scorecard, every senator listed is a Republican. Red circles represent a vote that upheld the Republican platform and blue circles are votes that did not. The blue circles are votes that show how the RINOS & Democrat Senators voted. Remember, though, no democrats are actually listed on the chart.
The important thing to see is how many blue votes there are overall from our Republican senators and how many blue votes Justin had. There are two red arrows pointing to Justin's line on the chart which is also highlighted in yellow.
If you have questions about specific votes, I'm happy to answer those for you. Shoot me an email at jodi@mofreedomfoundation.com and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Download the PDF here: MOFF 21.22 Scorecard (2).pdf
2. twice in 2022, he opposed protecting our girls!
I want to highlight 2 votes in particular that were taken this year and explain them. There is a LOT of spinning going on and you deserve to know the TRUTH.
Senate Amendment 2 to Senate Bill 672. You can see this vote in the first column of the dark pink section.
SB 672 was called the Fast Track bill. It funded a higher education program related to workforce development. On February 15, 2022, Amendment 2 was offered by Senator Mike Moon. It said that any institution taking these funds would be required to protect their female athletes by BANNING boys from playing in women's sports at their institution IF they wanted to take those government funds.
How would you want them to vote? I wanted them to PASS that amendment and protect our girls. It would've only been a start, but starting is better than nothing.
Instead of passing the amendment, they chose to kill it. They voted to "lay it over" which meant that the amendment died. What the RINOS want you to believe is that they didn't vote on the amendment and it was all about procedure. They say the amendment language needed to go through committee first so they didn't want to vote on it on the floor.
RINOS say, "I didn't vote against it. I voted to lay it over so it could be vetted in a committee."
You can see how many voted to table/kill the amendment (blue votes) and how many voted for the amendment to move forward (red votes). Justin voted with the RINOS and the democrats. The Conservative Caucus wanted the amendment to pass, which would have offered protection for girls attending those specific schools.
SB 718. The Save Women's Sports Act. This vote is the 19th column of votes, 3rd from the end.
On May 11, what turned out to be the last day of session for the senate, Senator Moon again offered up The Save Women's Sports Act as an amendment to SB 718.
This was nearly 3 full months after the first vote on February 15th. They had PLENTY of time to "vet" the language. But did they? NO.
Bless Senator Moon's heart, he tried again to pass the language that would protect our girls. And AGAIN, most of the Republicans voted with the democrats to leave our girls unprotected and at risk.
But check out Justin's vote. He was ABSENT. That doesn't mean he was sick. It means he was at the Capitol that day, he was working but he CHOSE NOT TO VOTE. You'll hear people refer to this as "they took a walk" meaning they walked out when it was time to vote.
Why would he choose NOT to vote at all?? Because by May 11th, he knew he was being primaried and he didn't want to be held accountable for a NO. He understands what most of you do not - Senate rules. And the rules say they can abstain from voting if they choose even though it gets recorded as "Absent." IF you bother to look up the vote you'd assume he just wasn't there because it's listed as "Absent."
This vote is upsetting because not only did he NOT protect the girls, he purposefully tried to weasel out of any chance he'd be held accountable at the polls. The RINOS aren't happy that the Conservative Caucus required so many roll call votes this year. Roll call votes mean you can see how they voted. They'd much rather take a simple voice vote so their personal votes aren't recorded in the journal.
Let's get back on track.... the important thing is TWICE in 2022, Justin Brown FAILED to protect our Missouri daughters and granddaughters. He voted (or abstained) in a way that KEEPS boys playing in girls sports!
The bottom line is that this issue was NOT a priority to Justin or any of the other Senate RINOS. It was ONLY a priority to the Conservative Caucus.
They DID pass a giant education bill and even then they did not "vet" the women's sports language so they could add it OR any CRT ban. They played nice with the leftists to get a Christmas tree bill across that line that actually did more harm than good and included NO PROTECTION for our children!
