The Safe Act bans puberty blockers, hormones & transgender surgery in Missouri kids under 18.
It's pretty straightforward in my mind. You?
A couple weeks ago there was a whistleblower that came out with information about the Washington University transgender clinic. It's horrific.
The week after, The Safe Act had a public hearing in the Missouri Senate. I was at the hearing and also had the opportunity to spend time that day with Scott Newgent, Luka Hein and Chloe Cole. Scott is a trans-man who founded an organization called TreVoices. Luka & Chloe are both young women were victimized by leftist counselors and doctors. They all came in to testify at the committee hearing.
If you aren't familiar with the details of this issue, I truly encourage you to click on the links and learn more about these precious people and the issues our children are facing.
o'laughlin lays it over
Yesterday, Monday, February 28th, SB 49 came up on the Senate floor for debate and perfection. However, the Majority Floor Leader, Cindy O'Laughlin, and President Pro Tem, Caleb Rowden, don't want to deal with the bill. Honestly, I don't think Rowden wants the bill to pass at all. Maybe Cindy does, but she seems to be cow-towing to Rowden so it doesn't really matter. She's not helping.
Of course, Washington University doesn't want it to pass. Big pharma doesn't want it to pass. The medical lobby doesn't want it to pass. We know that. And they have the dollars to back it up.
The trustees and heavy hitters from Wash U have been gunning for the conservatives for a while now. It was about this time last year that they created a PAC called RightPath and raised over $2 million to fight senate conservatives. That's in addition to the other two PACS Wash U funds. There are too many PACs from the medical and big pharm industries to name.
Caleb has tons of donations from all these special interests and I'm sure he's got more on the way. Probably, Cindy does, too, and my guess is these senators who won't commit to a yes have taken more than a few dollars as well. Maybe I'll take some time to find those MEC reports later on.
One of her jobs is to bring bills up to the floor but she just doesn't think it's a good time to bring The Safe Act forward. Hmm....I'm wondering why.
Other than special interest dark money influence, leadership often likes to hold bills hostage as leverage to get the things they want. And then....at the end of session when they accomplish their disgusting priority, things like the gas tax or PDMP, they'll give you a tiny token of something you want and carry it home like a 1st place trophy. You'll sing their praises and they won't tell you the whole truth about the way they sold you down the river a thousand different times.
I guess it could be that they know this bill might be divisive among the body because things might be uncomfortable in the hallways and office relations may be tense for a bit. As far as I'm concerned, suck it up buttercup. That's part of the job description.
I'm honestly not sure why she doesn't want to deal with it right now. But she doesn't.
Back to The Safe Act.
SENATE LEADERSHIP
Rumor has it that Senator O'Laughlin has promised that SB 49 will come up for perfection next Tuesday. We'll see. But why next Tuesday? I have no idea. Why not today? Why not yesterday? It's all such a dog & pony show.
Get it done, Cindy. GET. IT. DONE.
If you are holding our kids ransom for GOP establishment priorities - then just stop. Your voters are sick of these games you all play with our lives & the lives of our children.
If you're worried about upsetting your Senate buddies just suck it up. From what I understand, we've even got some democrat support on this bill so even if they vote no, there's a fair chance they actually agree with the bill at heart.
CALL TO ACTION: Call and email leadership to let them know that protecting Missouri kids is your priority and you want to see SB 49 on the floor, perfected AND passed BEFORE spring break.
Senate President & Lt Governor, Mike Kehoe. 573.751.4727
Senate President Pro Tem, Caleb Rowden. caleb.rowden@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.1141
Senate Majority Floor Leader, Cindy O'Laughlin. cindy.olaughlin@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.7985
yes, no or undecided?
Today, I was in every Republican senate office in the building with a friend of mine. We asked the question, "Is the senator a yes, no or undecided on The Safe Act?" Here are the answers we got and the contact information you need to reach out to these so-called Republicans.
Of course, no Republican would say they are a no. But we did get a surprising amount of 'Undecided' responses that were, frankly, mostly rude and condescending staffers who were giving us their token response. Frankly, on this issue, if you are undecided - you're a no. If you can't commit to a yes on this issue - you're a problem.
And just so you know, this bill has been on the informal calendar for over week. It has been a hot topic in the press and in the building. There is no excuse for ANY staffer or senator to NOT know their position at this point. It was literally supposed to be perfected on the floor yesterday. They should've already read the bill - not acted like they hadn't even seen it before.
The question stated was, "If SB 49 came to the floor TODAY as it is TODAY are you a yes or a no?"
Their excuses are just that. EXCUSES. Even the excuse regarding possible amendments is a joke. If you are undecided - that means you aren't committing to a yes and that's a no as far as I'm concerned.
list of "undecided" votes on the safe act
ACTION: Please call this list of senators and let them know what you think. If I hear that their position changes, I'll update the list and let you know. These are all Republican senators.
Senator Rusty Black - rusty.black@senate.mo.gov 573.751.1415
Senator Karla Eslinger - karla.eslinger@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.1882
Senator Jason Bean - jason.bean@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.4843
Senator Caleb Rowden - caleb.rowden@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.3931
Senator Elaine Gannon - elaine.gannon@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.4008
Senator Tony Luetkemeyer - tony.luetkemeyer@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.2183
Senator Mike Bernskoetter - mike.bernskoetter@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.2076
Senator Lincoln Hough - lincoln.hough@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.1311
Senator Justin Brown - justin.brown@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.5713
Senator Holly Rehder - holly.rehder@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.2459
Senator Mike Cierpiot - mike.cierpiot@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.1464
Note: Senator Sandy Crawford is absent this week. We were unable to get a response from her office.
Safe act champions
These senators have committed to a yes on SB 49. Simple as that. We asked the question and they immediately responded, "Yes!" In a lot of cases, they said things like, "Is that a real question?" or "You have to ask?" They had zero hesitation in committing to protecting our kids and supporting SB 49.
ACTION: Please call them and let them know you appreciate their support of SB 49 and request them to use every ounce of their influence with leadership to get SB 49 to the floor for perfection and a vote for passage BEFORE spring break.
Senator Mike Moon, Bill Sponsor. mike.moon@senate.mo.gov 573.751.1480
Senator Jill Carter, jill.carter@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.2173
Senator Rick Brattin, rick.brattin@senate.mo.gov 573.751.2108
Senator Bill Eigel, bill.eigel@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.1141
Senator Ben Brown, ben.brown@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.3678
Senator Andrew Koenig, andrew.koenig@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.5568
Senator Mary Elizabeth Coleman, maryelizabeth.coleman@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.2459
Senator Curtis Trent, curtis.trent@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.1503
Senator Nick Schroer, nick.schroer@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.1282
Senator Denny Hoskins, denny.hoskins@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.4302
Senator Travis Fitzwater, travis.fitzwater@senate.mo.gov. 573.751.2757
Be sure to subscribe to the blog and I'll keep you posted.
SOMETHING'S JUST NOT RIGHT
Often when I'm out talking to Missourians across the state, we have conversations regarding things that just don't seem right, although we have a hard time putting our finger on exactly what's wrong. It feels like we are losing our freedoms and yet we can't exactly pinpoint the moment they were lost or how it happened.
I've got something for you to consider.
THIS BILL ISN'T TOO BAD
It happens often that bills are passed because they "aren't too bad." They may have a decent thing or two and maybe something great but usually they've got concessions in them as well. They are seen by legislators as a "net win" even though there are concerns or possible issues. Lawmakers love to say that no bill can be perfect and we just do the best we can.
But would you eat a brownie with a tiny bit of dog poop mixed in to the batter? Because, unless I was saving my kids, I really don't want ANY amount of dog poop in my food.
Now for my kids? I'll eat a pile of poop.
But otherwise, that's a big NO.
THE VIEW FROM ABOVE
If you look at one bill at a time, you may see a tiny bit of dog poop and choose to look the other way if you feel the benefit outweighs the poop. But if you look at the big picture and see that all these tiny turds amount to one big pile of crap, you realize that passing one turd is a huge problem!
The following is a list of Republican sponsored bills in the legislature NOW that are chipping away at your individual liberty. If you look at them individually, it probably doesn't feel like a real big deal. If you look at them collectively, I think you may feel differently.
the nutshell version
Here's the list. Click on the link to read a separate article with more details and action steps on each of these issues.
SB 117- Tort Reform & Sovereign Immunity. We are losing time in the statute of limitations on personal liability and they are giving sovereign immunity to every private contractor doing business with any public entity in the state. This elevates government related business and squashes Missourians. The law makers will tell you it's good because they need to reduce frivolous lawsuits and unclog the court system. They say it's good. I say it's 100% dog poop brownies.
Privacy Acts - There are more than one. These are elevating elected officials and protecting them at the expense of our first amendment right of free speech. The penalty is up to 5 years in prison & up to $10,000 in fines. Again...protecting and elevating government officials and squashing Missourians. Of course, they love it and think it's a great thing. And again I say there's a bunch of dog poop in the batter here.
Sunshine Law - Senator Andrew Koenig wants to make it harder for citizens to get transparent information from the government by revising our Sunshine Law. And again...elevating government and squashing Missourians. Even if this one stood alone, it's nothing but a huge pile of crap. Keeping Missourians in the dark and giving elected officials places to hide is nothing but a breeding ground for even more corruption.
See a pattern here??
If you want to know more, click on the link to get the details on each issue and the actions you can take to help. Yes, I know. It's a lot of work and it takes time. I think the ones who fought & died for this freedom would say that this is the least we could do.
Government transparency and our ability to see what public office are doing is protected for us within our Sunshine Law. Senator Andrew Koenig, Representative Bill Falkner and Representative Dane Diehl are hoping to make it more difficult for citizens to find the truth.
It's interesting that Senator Koenig wants to be the "Champion for Transparency" when it comes to schools, but it looks like he feels very differently about his own office being transparent. I have to wonder why. This one just doesn't make sense to me.
SB 174
Senator Koenig's bill has gotten the farthest of the handful that have been filed. His passed through committee 2/23/23 on a party line vote. All the republicans voted yes. All the democrats voted no. The Senate Committee Substitute is linked above if you'd like to read it for yourself but here are a few bullet points you might be interested in.
- Changing the definition of "public business". (Text struck out is current but being removed. Highlighted text is being added) "Public business",
[all matters which relate in any way to the performance of the public governmental body's functions or the conduct of its business]the deliberations of at least the number of individual public governmental body members required to take action on behalf of the public governmental body where such deliberations determine or result in the joint conduct or disposition of official public governmental body business; This means that "public business" is no longer all matters relating to government functions, it's much narrower in scope. - He's also changing the definition of "public meeting" in such a way that we would have less access to information. See the screenshot below. Underlined text in the photo is being added to the definition.
- Changing the definition of "public record" in such a way that we have less access. See page 5. It's too big for a quick screen shot to put here.
- Adding the government's ability to close the following items & remove them from our ability to access.
- Closing additional policies regarding public health. In the following screenshot, highlighted text is being removed. That means currently, in order to close these materials they had to be considered to be terrorist in nature. With his changes, they can be closed if they only appear to endanger individual or public safety or health.
- Closing access to more information regarding legislation and the legislative process. This is a screenshot from page 13.
what are they hoping to hide?
Probably a lot of things, honestly. It's another situation where the "kings" can do no wrong, they are protected and elevated while the people are kept in the dark.
This one is a big pile of dog crap all on its own. It needs to be scooped up and thrown out.
take action
SB 174 passed the Government Accountability committee and is headed to the Senate floor for perfection. Please call and email your own senator as well as our more conservative senators. Ask that they do what is necessary to kill this bill that works against transparency for Missourians.
Senator Mike Moon. mike.moon@senate.mo.gov
Senator Bill Eigel. bill.eigel@senate.mo.gov
Senator Rick Brattin. rick.brattin@senate.mo.gov
Senator Jill Carter. jill.carter@senate.mo.gov
Senator Ben Brown. ben.brown@senate.mo.gov
Senator Denny Hoskins. denny.hoskins@senate.mo.gov
PRIVACY ACTS
This sounds good, right? Let's protect privacy. It's important for all of us. But these acts aren't about protecting you. They are about expanding protections for elected officials and penalizing citizens when the line is crossed. And the penalty is steep. A Class D felony carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Language is being added to expand the statutes already in place for judges and also to include all state elected officials, county elected officials and even election poll workers.
There are separate bills floating around to protect different groups of elected officials. They all have basically the same language although they are sponsored by a couple different legislators - Representative Peggy McGaugh and Representative Rudy Veit.
Please understand, I'm not in supporting ANY physical harm or harassment of ANYONE. However, when we include language that say "with the intent", who defines intent? How is that determined? "Intent to harass, intimidate" or even "influence the job performance" is a big problem in these bills.
This blog could be viewed as having intent to influence job performance of our elected officials. What if I mentioned to you in a blog that Senator Moon's wife and kids joined him at the Capitol for the legislative ball? Or that I ran into Representative Seitz and his wife, Valerie, while I was in Branson on vacation? If these bills pass and someone feels like I am trying to harass or intimidate, I could go to prison and have a felony conviction to live with the rest of my life...even though Senator Moon is married, loves his wife and kids and posts photos of her himself on his own social media pages. And we all know Representative Seitz and his wife Valerie live in the Branson area so I could very well run into them while I'm headed to Silver Dollar City.
These bills are just too invasive.
the bills
- HB 301 is a public safety bill sponsored by Rep Roberts with a "Privacy Act" amendment added by Rep Rudy Veit. It has passed the House and is in the Senate. This amendment pertains to judicial officers and all elected state officials and any political subdivision thereof. I've included a PDF attachment of the amendment for you to download and read as well as the link here. The following is language taken directly from the amendment beginning on page 2 line 6.
(1) "Elected official", any elected member of state government or any political subdivision thereof; (2) "Personal information", the same meaning as defined in section 407.1500. 2. A person commits the offense of unlawful disclosure of personally identifiable information if he or she knowingly releases, publicizes, or otherwise publicly discloses the name, home address, Social Security number, telephone number, or other personal information of an elected official or a family member of the elected official with the purpose to harass, intimidate, or cause death or bodily injury to the elected official or a family member of the elected official. 3. The offense of unlawful disclosure of personally identifiable information is a class A misdemeanor. However, if a violation of this section is done with the purpose to influence an elected official in the performance of such official's official duties, the offense is a class D felony.";
- HB 781 sponsored by Rep Peggy McGaugh is an election bill that grants this same protection to election officials, including volunteer poll workers. The following language is found on page 11 starting at line 88 in the bill. Emphasis added to bold words by me.
Disseminating through any means, including by posting on the internet, the personal information of the family of an election official with the intent to harass, intimidate, or influence such official in the performance of his or her duties. For the purpose of this subdivision, "personal information" includes home address, Social Security number, federal tax identification number, checking or savings account numbers, marital status, and identity of a child under eighteen years of age. For the purpose of this subdivision, the term "election official" includes election judges, challengers, watchers, and other volunteers or employees of an election authority. If a violation of this section results in death or bodily injury to an election official or a member of the official’s family, the offense shall be a class B felony.
- HB 405 sponsored by Rep Peggy McGaugh pertains to all elected county officials. The language is the same as her bill above, but please click the link to verify for yourself.
the end game
These bills are designed to protect government officials and intimidate citizens. The truth is we already have statutes on the books for stalking, harassment, assault, etc. These added measures aren't necessary and they infringe on our first amendments rights.
Protect the officials. Jail the citizens if they get offensive. Nice.
These bills need to go.
TAKE ACTION
Status: Senate hearing is scheduled for Monday 2/27 at 1:30pm. Call and/or email committee members and ask for the privacy act amendment to be removed.
Sen Leutkemeyer - 573-751-2183
Sen Schroer - 573-751-1282
Sen Coleman - 573-751-1492
Sen May - 573-751-3599
Sen Roberts - 573-751-4415
Sen Rehder - 573-751-2459
Sen Trent - 573-751-1503
Email Addresses. Copy & paste into your own email server.
tony.leutkemeyer@senate.mo.gov, nick.schroer@senate.mo.gov, mary.coleman@senate.mo.gov, karla.may@senate.mo.gov, steven.roberts@senate.mo.gov, holly.rehder@senate.mo.gov, curtis.trent@senate.mo.gov
Status: This bill has already had a House hearing but the committee still hasn't voted on it. Please email and/or call the committee members and ask for a no vote.
Peggy McGaugh, Chair - peggy.mcgaugh@house.mo.gov 573-751-2917
Dan Stacy, Vice Chair - dan.stacy@house.mo.gov. 573-751-8636
Joe Adams - joe.adams@ house.mo.gov. 573-751-4265
Brad Banderman - brad.banderman@house.mo.gov. 573.751.0549
Donna Baringer - donna.baringer@house.mo.gov. 573-751-4220
Tricia Byrnes - tricia.byrnes@house.mo.gov. 573.751.1460
Jeff Coleman - jeff.coleman@house.mo.gov. 573.751.1487
Bill Falkner - bill.falkner@house.mo.gov. 573.751.9755
Roger Reedy - roger.reedy@house.mo.gov. 573.751.3971
Alex Riley - alex.riley@house.mo.gov. 573.751.2210
Adam Schwadron - adam.schwadron@house.mo.gov. 573.751.2949
David Tyson Smith - david.smith@house.mo.gov. 573.751.9753
Justin Sparks - justin.sparks@house.mo.gov. 573.751.0562
Cheri Toalson Reisch - cheri.toalson-reisch@house.mo.gov. 573-751-1169
Ken Waller - ken.waller@house.mo.gov. 573.751.4451
Kevin Windham - kevin.windham@house.mo.gov. 573.751.4726
Eric Woods - eric.woods@house.mo.gov. 573.751.2199
HB 405 has been referred to a committee but not heard yet. Please call and/or email the committee members and ask for a no vote.
David Evans - 573-751-1455 david.evans@house.mo.gov
Rudy Veit - 573-751-0665 rudy.veit@house.mo.gov
Robert Sauls - 573-751-5701 robert.sauls@house.mo.gov
Marlon Anderson - 573-751-7605 marlon.anderson@house.mo.gov
John Black - 573-751-1167 john.black@house.mo.gov
Brad Christ - 573-751-2150 brad.christ@house.mo.gov
Ron Copeland - 573-751-1688 ron.copeland@house.mo.gov
Michael Davis - 573-751-2175 michael.davis@house.mo.gov
Justin Hicks - 573-751-3572 justin.hicks@house.mo.gov
Ian Mackey - 573-751-3859 ian.mackey@house.mo.gov
Cameron Parker - 573-751-3629 cameron.parker@house.mo.gov
Greg Sharpe - 573-751-3644 greg.sharpe@house.mo.gov
David Tyson Smith - 573-751-9753 david.smith@house.mo.gov
Justin Sparks - 573-751-0562. justin.sparks@house.mo.gov
covid vaccine & kids
Freedom. Personal liberty. That's generally my focus.
When it comes to vaccines & healthcare, I believe freedom and TRUE informed consent should be the priority.
Personally, my family and I are avoiding the Covid jab like the plague. There's no way in the world I'd get one now and I'd fight like the mama bear I am before I allowed my kids to get one.
Maybe you feel differently, and that's ok.
However, it is NOT ok for this jab or ANY mRNA jab or ANY medical therapy or procedure to be REQUIRED of our kids in order for them to attend school. Period. This is a hill I'll die on.
Missouri's process regarding required vaccines
You may not know this, but it is only a small committee of bureaucrats that decide when a new vaccine gets added to the school requirement list in Missouri. There is no legislative oversight on that process.
The addition of a vaccine would probably go completely unnoticed until you got a call from the school nurse.
Frankly, I hate this process and would love to see the legislature put the burden back on the legislative process so that the public would have an opportunity to weigh in. But that's not happening anytime soon as far as I can tell.
rep. bill hardwick working for our kids
Representative Bill Hardwick is Chair of the Emerging Issues Committee in the Missouri House of Representatives. Today, he is hearing a group of bills regarding vaccines.
Several of them are specific to Covid, one is concerning employer liability, but his primary concern is protecting our school kids. I applaud him for that!
Rep Hardwick and I agree that our school kids should NOT be required to take the Covid vaccine or ANY mRNA vaccine or other form of gene therapy in order to attend school. I'm thrilled he has sponsored a bill to address this and he's conducting a hearing today where his bill along with several others will be heard.
I hope you'll wholeheartedly support his bill and help us create a wave of grassroots voices across the House that would move them to action.
The lobbyists from the pharmaceutical industry and Chamber of Commerce will be working against us. The speaks volumes, doesn't it? The Chamber of COMMERCE. Why are they weighing in?? That's easy, right?
$$$$$$
This is all about the flow of MONEY. Not our kids. I won't go down that rabbit trail, but make no mistake about it. They don't care about the health of your children.
one hiccup
There is one issue I have with HB 700, which has nothing to do with our kids, but with employee exemptions regarding mRNA vaccines or gene therapy. I love the intent of the bill in allowing exemptions for employees, including hospitals and universities. However, there is a term, "undue hardship" that is not defined clearly in the bill.
This section of the bill requires hospitals and employers who are public entities grant exemptions for religious, non-theistic moral beliefs, and for medical reasons UNLESS the employer suffers from an "undue hardship."
I don't prefer this phrase to be in the bill because it does allow a possible loophole for an employer to refuse an exemption request. However, our kids need to be protected and grownups have choices. IF an employer refused the exemption, there would need to be a lawsuit filed and the results of that suit would be crucial to how things move forward.
Likely, some employees would lose their jobs or be forced to be jabbed, because how many people do you know who are willing to sue their employer? It's not going to go well for them even if they win.
I would prefer this section be completely removed and these two issues on separate bills and without the "undue hardship" language. But still, I'm thrilled to protect our kids and I believe they are the priority.
So... is this tiny bit of dog poop in the brownie worth eating? For my kids... maybe it is.
Representative Boggs does have a stand alone bill on employer liability that we can support or even Rep Hardwick could separate his bill into two.
In an ideal world, I'd love to see Representative Hardwick's bill passed without the employer liability and then a liability bill without the undue hardship in it.
please take action
1. Call & email every committee member. Names & contact info listed below. Keep it short, sweet and please be respectful. It's as easy as saying, "I support Representative Hardwick's vaccine bill without the "undo hardship" language" If you have a personal experience, please share it.
Bill Hardwick, Chair. 573.751.3834
Dane Diehl, Vice-Chair. 573.751.4065
Ashley Aune, (D) Ranking Minority Member. 573.751.3618
Bishop Davidson, 573.751.2381
Jeff Farnan, 573.751.9465
Sherri Gallick. 573.751.1344
Mike Haffner. 573.751.3783
Dave Hinman. 573.751.2176
Josh Hurlbert. 573.751.0246
Jamie. Johnson (D). 573.751.9760
Holly Jones. 573.751.7535
Doug Mann (D). 573.751.2134
Adam Schnetling. 573.751.5365
David Tyson Smith (D). 573.751.9753
Email addresses: Please copy/paste. Put your own email address in the "To" and then copy/paste these addresses into the "BCC" line in your email. You'll get a copy and then they will each get individual emails vs a group. I'd love to know if you get any responses. bill.hardwick@house.mo.gov, dane.diehl@house.mo.gov, ashley.aune@house.mo.gov, bishop.davidson@house.mo.gov, jeff.farnan@house.mo.gov, sherri.gallick@house.mo.gov, mike.haffner@house.mo.gov, dave.hinman@house.mo.gov, josh.hurlbert@house.mo.gov, jamie.johnson@house.mo.gov, holly.jones@house.mo.gov, doug.mann@house.mo.gov, adam.schnelting@house.mo.gov, david.smith@house.mo.gov
2. Submit an online testimony BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!
SUPPORT HB 700 with a request to remove the employer liability section. (bans any potential mRNA requirements for school kids)
SUPPORT HB 336 (employer liability in regard to vaccines)
You'll have to submit 2 separate forms for each bill. Please check your email after you submit to verify & complete the process.
3. PRAY!
