ST. LOUIS–An emotionally charged week in the Missouri House ended with Republicans saying they’ve delivered on their priorities with 19 days left in the session, while Democrats warned of a breakdown of trust after frustrations following a series of votes passing GOP priorities.

Firearms

The House this week perfected a pair of bills after defeating amendments that would have set a legal age to buy a firearm. On Wednesday, it was a bipartisan omnibus public safety bill that includes provisions eliminating residency requirements for St. Louis police and other city employees. Thursday, it was a measure to allow those with a concealed carry permit to bring firearms on public transportation and in churches.

That bill drew opposition from Bi-State Development Corporation, the body that oversees MetroBus and MetroLink service. Any change in Missouri law would need an agreement with Illinois and federal law.

“At Metro Transit, we want firearms on our transit system, but only in the hands of our trained, certified law enforcement partners. We have made a number of strides on safety and security, including launching the Secure Platform Plan which will close access to our MetroLink platforms, and we established the Real Time Camera Center,” Bi-State said in a statement.

Both bills still need a final House vote before going to the Senate.

Transgender medical treatment

The House gave final passage Thursday to House Bill 419, which largely bans transgender medical treatment for minors under the age of 18. Unlike a version passed by the Senate, it does not include a four-year sunset provision or allow minors currently receiving treatment, including medication, to continue with that care.

It’s unclear if the Senate version will reach the House floor or if the House version will gain traction in the Senate.

“We've got two good bills that pertain to this issue that have been moving. If we don't get one of those bills to the Governor it will be a failure on the part of the Missouri Legislature,” the House sponsor, State Rep. Brad Hudson, R-Cape Fair told Spectrum News

Democrats repeated their concerns that banning the treatment will put a marginalized group of people in more danger of things like suicide, while one St. Louis County State Representative said the bill would force her family, with a transgender grandchild, to make a choice. 

"It will be illegal for my grandchild to visit me because you all want to make him illegal. You are erasing my grandchild," State Rep. Barbara Phifer D-Kirkwood on the House food. “If you are trans and if you have a child that’s trans don’t you dare spend the night here because you will be illegal. Is that really what we want to do?”

“I have no intention of going after the parents,” Hudson said in a news conference Thursday, adding that the bill’s “teeth” will come through the ability of patients to potentially bring civil actions against health care providers.

At the same time the House passed Hudson’s legislation, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced emergency regulations that would go into effect regarding transgender care for all patients, starting April 27.

If there was early hope in January that both parties could find a better working relationship despite the imbalance between Republicans and Democrats, Democrats sounded the alarm Thursday that the friendships those relationships were built on were frayed. 

“We should be better than this. And I am tired of standing at this microphone trying to shame you into paying attention to what actually matters,” Minority Floor Leader Crystal Quade D-Springfield said on the floor Thursday.

“Throughout the whole course of this session, we have delivered as promised what we set out to do,” said House Speaker Dean Plocher R-Des Peres. “We’ve cut taxes, we’ve attacked crime, we’ve helped protect kids. We’ve helped protect the constitution and the House has stood firm on this, week in and week out. We’re waiting on the Senate to take some action to have a successful year,” he said.

St. Louis Police & Circuit Attorney

Legislation that would shift control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department from the city to a state-appointed board, which has already passed the House, was voted out of a Senate committee this week. It will next head to the floor, although when is uncertain.

The Senate could act faster on legislation in a larger crime bill that would allow the governor to appoint a special prosecutor in St. Louis to handle cases involving violent crime.

Resignation

The makeup of the Missouri House will change starting next week. State Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, will resign to take office Tuesday as the 14th Ward Alderman in St. Louis following this month’s municipal election.

Aldridge, who was first elected to the House in a 2019 special election, defeated Ebony Washington in a closely-watched aldermanic race April 4 for a ward seat representing portions of North St. Louis and downtown.

Aldridge briefly presided over the floor from the Speaker’s dais Thursday morning.

In his last floor speech, Aldridge thanked his colleagues in the minority and also had a message for the Republican supermajority.

“I’m thankful that I’ve had an opportunity to work with many of you, to serve with many of you. I will say some days like today you make it hard to defend those relationships but I will walk away trying to remember the good in each and every one and hope that you listen regardless of having a majority that you actually listen to us,” he said. “A lot of the things this side of the aisle talk about are just trying to find solutions and common ground to things we may differ on and don’t want to be silenced,” he said. 

2024 State Treasurer’s race

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, serving in his final term in the House due to term limits, has filed paperwork with the Missouri Ethics Commission to launch a bid for State Treasurer in 2024. Smith has been a key figure in budget negotiations the past two years as the state handled the influx of federal coronavirus stimulus money and he sponsored the income tax cut bill in last fall’s special session.

This year, Smith made waves by zeroing out a line item in the state budget proposal for $4.5 million in public library funding, in retaliation for libraries and groups suing the state over a new law that bans sexually explicit material.

Smith would challenge Vivek Malek, the Wildwood attorney appointed State Treasurer by Gov. Mike Parson, in January after Scott Fitzpatrick was elected State Auditor. Parson has said he will support Malek’s campaign.