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.
