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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
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‘We've already done that': Missouri lawmakers show little enthusiasm for new congressional maps
Members of the Missouri House review a proposed Congressional map during redistricting debate on Jan. 18, 2022 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). As Texas embarks on a special legislative session that includes revising that state's congressional districts to help Republicans, President Donald Trump is reportedly asking for Missouri to do the same. The reaction among legislative leaders, however, is decidedly negative. Asked by text about a report from Punchbowl News on a new redistricting effort, state Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O'Laughlin responded with a horror emoji. 'I know this is a topic being talked about in Washington,' she added, 'but no one has asked us to do anything about redistricting.' Punchbowl reported that U.S. Rep. Bob Onder of Lake St. Louis was at the White House on Tuesday and came away convinced Trump's advisors want Missouri to act. 'The president's team is serious about it,' Onder said to Punchbowl. Missouri has eight seats in the U.S. House, six held by Republicans and two held by Democrats — the same total and partisan division it has had since a seat was lost after the 2010 census. Missouri Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck of Affton said Democrats would fight any effort to change district lines that were just redrawn three years ago. 'This originated out of the White House,' Beck said. 'This is a blatant power grab by an administration desperate to deflect from their cover up of the Epstein files and other things going on.' We've already done that. To do it again would be out of character with the way Missouri operates. – Chad Perkins, speaker pro tem of the Missouri House The 435 seats in the U.S. House are allotted to the states every 10 years based on census results. When Missouri receives its allotment, the state Constitution mandates that lawmakers revise district lines. The last time lines were redrawn between censuses was in the 1960s, following the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decision that districts had to be drawn as closely as possible in population to preserve equal representation, known as the one person, one vote decision. In 2022, when the current districts were drawn, Republican leaders in the Missouri Senate had to resort to little-used maneuvers to outwit opponents within their caucus who wanted to break up the 5th District and push the partisan split to 7-1. The 5th District, which includes Kansas City and sections of Jackson and Clay counties, has been Democratic for decades. U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who has held the seat since 2005, was re-elected in November with 60% of the vote. Splitting those votes into adjacent districts, while bringing in enough Republican votes to carry the district, isn't as certain as it may seem to aid the GOP, said state Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Republican from Lee's Summit. 'There's a lot of Democrats in Jackson County,' Cierpiot said, 'and if it's a map that they promote that, once again, puts two or three of our Republican seats in play in a bad year, I would have trouble supporting that.' The 2022 fight over redistricting came during a four-year period where hard-right conservatives in the state Senate fought almost daily with GOP leadership and its backers. This year, Republicans finally forged a truce that helped make their supermajority, holding two-thirds of the seats, far more effective in moving priority legislation. The fight over redistricting was colored as much by personalities as policy, said U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, a Republican from Springfield who won the 7th District seat in 2022. Then-state Sen. Bill Eigel of St. Charles, leader of the insurgents, couldn't convince anyone that a 7-1 map was possible and safe for Republicans because of his personal conflicts with the leadership, Burlison said in an interview on Thursday with The Independent. 'It was more about people's personalities than what were the facts,' said Burlison, a state senator at the time. 'What was achievable in that session was marked by that.' Tempers fray as Missouri Senate Republicans fight over Congressional map The conflict was so bad that Eigel and Cierpiot nearly came to blows during a lunch break. It wasn't the only moment where violence was possible, Burlison said. 'There were multiple moments where it almost came close,' he said. In the Missouri House, where it is easier for leadership to shut down debate and quash factionalism, a top Republican leader said there's no reason to revisit the current map. 'We do redistricting every 10 years,' House Speaker Pro Tem Chad Perkins of Bowling Green said. 'We've already done that. To do it again would be out of character with the way Missouri operates.' There may be some willingness to try a new redistricting effort. Cierpiot said he could support it if he is convinced Republicans would not lose seats in years favoring Democrats. But it could backfire, he said. 'Right now, in Missouri, we're in a Republican wonderland,' Cierpiot said. 'We've had decent years, and we haven't had an off year since probably 2008, but I'm old enough to remember those things do cycle through.' State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a Republican from Arnold, enthusiastically backs the idea. 'We should have written a 7-1 map' in 2022, she said. 'Our failure to do so almost cost the GOP the majority in Congress. I'm up for it.' It is encouraging, Beck said, that most Republican comments are opposed to the idea of redistricting again. But pressure could change that. 'I don't know how much they're gonna get pushed to change those views,' he said. 'I've watched these people say things before and then change their mind.' There are a lot of legal questions, involving both the federal and state constitutions, that will be played out in the courts in states that try to redraw lines set after the 2020 census, said Justin Levitt, a professor of law at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Levitt, who monitors redistricting efforts nationwide and was deputy attorney general for civil rights at the end of President Barack Obama's administration, said a redistricting effort in Missouri would create legal issues over minority voter rights. Both of Missouri's Democratic members of Congress, Cleaver and U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell of St. Louis, are Black. To gain a seat, 'you'd have to effectively target the minority communities of St. Louis and Kansas City,' Levitt said. It would also create problems because the stated goal is to increase Republican representation in Congress, he said. 'The Supreme Court has said with crystal clarity that excessive partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional, that it is inconsistent with basic democratic principles,' Levitt said. 'It said that in the same breath that it also said that the federal courthouse doors are closed to adjudicating that claim, but just because the cops are not outside your door doesn't mean shoplifting is legal.' Missouri's constitution is silent on whether lawmakers have the power to redraw lines outside the 10-year cycle of the census. That silence, Levitt said, would have to be interpreted by the courts. 'Other states have construed that constitutional time in their own state constitutions to say, once every 10 years and no more frequently,' he said. With a 219-212 majority — four seats are vacant, including three previously held by Democrats — Republicans are worried that a small shift in voter sentiment could put them again in the minority. Texas, with a 25-13 split in favor Republicans, is looking at possibly moving five seats to the Republican column, according to the Texas Tribune. It took a telephone call from Trump to Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott to get it on the special session agenda amid concerns that GOP voters might be spread too thin. In retaliation, California Gov. Gavin Newsome has threatened to redraw that state's 52 districts, currently 43-9 in favor of Democrats, to counter the Texas move. So did New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who told reporters Monday that it's 'too early' to make a definitive statement on the issue, the New Jersey Globe reported, adding he would speak to other Democratic governors about redistricting. With Missouri now involved, it is clear that Trump is looking everywhere he can for new GOP seats, Levitt said. 'They're casting a wide net,' he said. 'The president seems to be abundantly nervous, and it wouldn't surprise me that he is in desperation, looking wherever he can.' Congressional districts are already gerrymandered so the result isn't in question, Beck said. It is already hurting the country and redistricting between censuses makes it worse, he added. U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, who represents the 2nd District in eastern Missouri, received 54.5% of the vote in November and is the only member of Congress from either party in the state who did not win 60% or more of the vote. 'There's only a select few seats that are actually up for grabs ever. The other ones are safe,' Beck said. 'They've done this over time, and it's a shame. Now the politicians pick their voters, instead of the voters pick their politicians.'
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri governor signs bill banning state from seizing foster kids' benefits
Rep. Melissa Schmidt, R-Eldridge, speaks on the House floor in February about her foster benefits bill (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). After Aug. 28, Missouri will end the state's longstanding practice of seizing foster children's Social Security benefits to cover the cost of foster care. Gov. Mike Kehoe on Wednesday signed a bill that would also ban child marriage and stop child sex abusers from using non-disclosure agreements to silence their victims. The bill was sponsored by Republican state Rep. Melissa Schmidt of Eldridge, and handled by Republican state Sen. Jamie Burger of Benton in the upper chamber. Missouri's child welfare agency takes millions of dollars each year in foster children's benefits and uses the money to help pay for foster care. In fiscal year 2024, the Children's Division spent more than $10.6 million recovered from children's benefits. Over 1,200 foster kids were receiving benefits in Missouri of late last year, or just over 10% of all kids in care. As a result, kids who are orphaned or have disabilities are responsible for paying toward the cost of their care in state custody. The bill would ban the state from using those benefits to pay itself back for routine foster care expenses. Instead, the division could use the funds for the child's 'unmet needs' beyond what the division is obligated to pay, such as housing as the child prepares to age out of foster care. The effort to ban the practice won bipartisan support during the 2024 session and was on the verge of passing. But it died when GOP infighting forced the state Senate to adjourn early. The foster benefits ban was the starting point for the bill, with other provisions, including the ban on child marriage added when it reached the state Senate. Other provisions include: Increasing a tax credit for donations to certain youth programs. Stating that the state Children's Division cannot hold itself harmless in contracts with private service providers when there are issues resulting from the state's negligence. Requiring Children's Division caseworkers to present identification of themselves when conducting investigations of child abuse and neglect, and inform parents of their rights. Requiring the Children's Division to take into consideration the religion of the foster child when determining placement, in order to ensure children are in households of a similar religion to their families' when practicable. Under current Missouri law, anyone under 16 is prohibited from getting married. But 16 and 17 year olds can get married with parental consent to anyone under 21. Under the new law, which goes into effect Aug. 28, marriage for anyone under age 18 will be illegal. The bill garnered bipartisan support, but an outspoken group of Republican lawmakers condemned the child marriage ban — saying they knew couples who were married as teens and are still together and warning that more teens would get abortions if they couldn't marry. 'There are legitimate reasons for people 16, 17 to become married,' state Rep. Dean Van Schoiack, a Savannah Republican, said during an April House debate. 'A pregnancy could be a legitimate reason to become married, for one thing.' Last year, the bill stalled due to GOP critics. In 2023 Republican state Sen. Mike Moon's opposition to the child marriage ban garnered national attention when he said: 'Do you know any kids who have been married at age 12? I do. And guess what? They're still married.' The bill also voids nondisclosure agreements in childhood sexual abuse cases and expands access to legal counsel for families in child abuse and neglect cases. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Were Missouri Republican lawmakers guided by a national agenda?
The crowd outside the Missouri Capitol for the inauguration of Gov. Mike Kehoe in January (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). The Republican-dominated Missouri Legislature abruptly ended its 2025 session early last week to guarantee passage of two bills to undo what a majority of Missourians had voted for. Were they working for what was in Missouri's best interest, or falling in line with the national Republican agenda? The day before the legislature ended its session Missouri lost a giant, Christopher 'Kit' Bond, who as an elected official aways chose what was best for Missouri over being a Republican who blindly pushed a partisan agenda at the exclusion of input from his Democratic colleagues, or the concerns of his constituents. The legislature's preoccupation to pass those two bills provides damning evidence of how partisan politics have come to rule the day. Legislators used a procedure to prevent Democrats from raising any objections or providing input and successfully secured their passage. Also, the majority of Missourians be damned. One bill puts a new abortion ban amendment before voters in 2026, unless the governor doesn't decide to do it sooner. The second takes away paid sick leave from Missouri workers that voters passed overwhelmingly and had just taken effect May 1. Those benefits will now be snatched back from workers on Aug. 28. Both issues, through the petition initiative process, were decisively decided by voters last November. A majority of Missourians voted against an abortion ban. A majority of Missourians voted for paid sick leave. Pause for a moment and think about what is being pushed about those same two issues on the national level by Republicans, irrespective of what the majority of Americans has indicated they prefer. When it comes to abortion, the budget bill moving through Congress diverts and defunds agencies like Planned Parenthood, targeting 'Big Abortion' as it is being called. When it comes to paid leave, the United States is one of the few countries in the world that doesn't have a national paid family leave policy. A bipartisan bill to establish such a policy was recently introduced, which will require state participation. But its fate remains to be seen. Bills to increase the federal minimum wage have repeatedly failed to be passed by Congress. The current proposed bill is unlikely to pass. Missouri voters have raised the minimum wage three times, including in November to $15 an hour. What other measures were left on the table that could have benefited many Missourians because of tacit or implicit support of the national Republican agenda? A major bill, House bill 19 that addressed many needs in communities across Missouri, expected to be considered was suddenly refused to be presented for a vote in the House. Needed areas left unfunded included: rural hospitals, community health centers, Boys and Girls clubs, capital improvement projects, higher education, research programs, workforce development, construction of a 200-bed mental hospital and other infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, billions of dollars remain in a surplus fund. There was one other area that Missouri Republican lawmakers focused on that aligns, reinforces and support the national Republican agenda. Tax cuts. Tax breaks. Republican lawmakers managed to pass their biggest tax-cut priority bill and forwarded it to the governor for signing. The bill allows capital gains exemptions for individuals and corporations. The bill also provides some limited tax breaks for low income, seniors and the disabled. Passing a major tax cut is also a high priority for Congress. The current bill contains a permanent tax-cut for the richest 1% as well as targeted breaks for millions of Americans, although they are temporary for some, like the elimination of taxes on tips and overtime pay which will expire in 2028. While seniors may be eligible for a new deduction, there will be no tax break or tax cut on social security income. Moving forward, however, the challenge remains: How do we get our elected public officials to rise above entrenched partisan politics and selfish interests and focus instead on those areas that will improve the lives of most Missourians. Elected officials' only job is to work for those who elected them. Republicans at the state and national level seem hell bent on pushing a blindly partisan agenda at the expense of what is best for their state or the country, and the will of the people. They would do well to reflect on the life of Kit Bond, a stellar public servant and lifelong Republican. Hopefully, it will be a reminder for some and a lesson for others. As governor and U.S. senator, Bond was an elected official who worked to address the needs of all Missourians. The issues and legislation he championed were not marred by intractable and extreme partisan politics. He worked with Republicans and Democrats. During his long career — in life and the tributes pouring in since his death, from fellow Republicans and Democrats alike — his integrity and commitment to be collaborative to address the challenges that Missouri faced, to arrive at workable solutions, to get the resources needed can be seen in communities across the state. His impact will be seen and benefit generations of Missourians for years to come. In this time of hyper partisan politics, and when state needs and interests are co-opted and loss in a national agenda, it would serve current lawmakers well, to look to how Kit Bond functioned. He epitomized what it means to put the interests of Missouri and Missourians first. He was committed to get what was needed done. Always. Unabashedly. Collaboratively.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Winners and losers of Missouri's 2025 legislative session
Members of the Missouri House celebrate the end of the 2025 legislative session with the traditional paper toss on May 15 (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). For the first time in years, the legislative session wasn't defined by Republican infighting. The GOP supermajority managed to mend fences and get along most of the year. And even though both the House and Senate left town early last week — an historically rare occurrence that is quickly becoming the norm — they still managed to send 49 bills to the governor's desk, put two proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot and pass a $53 billion state budget. It wasn't until the final week when the wheels came off, though this time the culprit was squabbles with Democrats. Republicans deployed a rarely-used procedural maneuver to cut off debate and pass bills seeking to repeal two voter-approved initiatives protecting abortion rights and increasing access to paid sick leave. The move effectively ended the session two days early and killed a litany of unrelated bills in the process. So who were the big winners and losers of the legislative session? Not everything went Mike Kehoe's way during his first legislative session as governor. One of his appointments to the State Board of Education got spiked in the Senate, and he pushed his stadium funding plan so late in the session it will now require lawmakers to return to Jefferson City next month in a long-shot bid to pass it and prevent the Royals and Chiefs from moving to Kansas. But he got most of the big-ticket items he called for when he laid out his agenda in his first State of the State address in January, highlighted by a capital gains tax cut, state control of St. Louis police and a $50 million private school voucher program. He also earned rave reviews from state lawmakers, who marveled at a governor actually leaving his office to work personally with the legislature. 'We made it a priority to walk the halls, not just to meet with lawmakers, but to build relationships, have real discourse and understand what mattered most to the people they represent, because progress starts with relationships and open conversations,' Kehoe told reporters Friday. The state's budget may never be as rosy again, with federal funding in limbo and state revenues not keeping up with projections. And with tough fights over stadium funding in the near term and a mid-term election on the horizon, Kehoe's honeymoon with the legislature could be short lived. Whether his first year as governor will be Kehoe's high-water mark is anybody's guess. But he undoubtedly just finished one of the best legislative sessions any governor has had in years. The pattern of crafting a state budget has become familiar over the years. The House works for months to get its budget plan in place, then the Senate basically rewrites everything before it gets sent to the governor. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. This year, House Budget Chairman Dirk Deaton certainly had to swallow a lot of spending he didn't like. But he held firm and won passage of the governor's $50 million private school voucher program that the Senate wanted to eliminate. Then, just hours before the constitutional deadline to finish work on the budget, and after the Senate had already gone home for the week, Deaton orchestrated the surprise death of a $500 million construction spending package — sinking projects for health care, education and law enforcement across the state and creating a bipartisan backlash that helped derail the governor's stadium funding plan. The long-term consequences of Deaton's move on the House's relationship with the Senate still aren't clear. But it solidified his reputation as a budget hawk willing to take extraordinary steps to keep state spending in check. The session certainly didn't end the way Senate Democrats would have liked. Efforts to protect two voter-approved initiatives — an abortion rights constitutional amendment and a paid sick leave law — went up in flames when Republicans went nuclear and shut down debate to force repeal bills to a vote. The 10 Democrats in the 34-member Senate had already spent months watching a suddenly unified GOP supermajority eliminate taxes on capital gains, take control of the St. Louis police, ease regulations on utilities and implement new hurdles in the initiative petition process. Yet despite the inglorious ending and parade of GOP wins, Democrats were successful at ensuring no high-profile bill cleared the Senate this year without at least a few Democratic priorities tacked on. The capital gains tax cut also expanded a property tax credit for the elderly and disabled that has been a longstanding Democratic priority. And it included sales tax exemptions for diapers and feminine hygiene products. Democrats won additions to the St. Louis police bill banning the shackling of pregnant prisoners, establishing a fund for exonerated prisoners to receive restitution and limiting what jails and prisons can charge inmates for phone calls. A bill allowing Missouri Farm Bureau to sell health plans also requires all health plans to cover extended supplies of birth control and expands access to testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Next year's legislative session may not be as fruitful for either party (see below). And it's doubtful Democrats will look back at 2025 fondly. But the small-ball approach of making bills they hate a little less terrible scored the party some unexpected wins this year. For the first time in nearly 50 years, Missouri's major electric utilities will be able to include the cost of new power plants in the rates customers pay for service. Written specifically to encourage the construction of new natural gas-based generation, the new law could also be used to help finance a new nuclear power station. The law banning rates that include costs for construction work in progress was approved by voters in 1976 in response to the costs of the Callaway Energy Center, a 1,200 megawatt reactor near Fulton. The utility companies employed 'squadrons' of lobbyists to pass the bill, complained state Rep. Don Mayhew, a Republican from Crocker. But they stitched together bipartisan majorities in both the Missouri House and Senate, getting votes from 20 Democrats and 76 Republicans in the lower chamber as it was sent to Kehoe, who signed it. Just days later, Evergy, a major power supplier in western Missouri, announced plans to construct a natural gas-fired power plant near Maryville. The final day of the legislative session ended when Republicans deployed the 'PQ,' a rule allowing leadership to cut off debate and force a vote over the objections of any senators trying to slow things down. The maneuver hasn't been used by the Senate in five years. Before last week, the Senate had only used it 18 times since 1970. Democrats were furious, both because the GOP went nuclear after a session marked by negotiation and compromise and because they did so to roll back laws enacted by the voters just months earlier. Knowing Democrats' response to the PQ would be to spend the final days of session using procedural hijinks of their own to muck up the process, Republicans adjourned for the year. Senate leaders have historically been hesitant to utilize the PQ because it generates lasting bitterness — and sparks retaliation. And that's exactly what Democrats promised as they were leaving town last week. The bad blood could spill into a special session next month for the governor's stadium funding plan. But just as likely, it could lead to wall-to-wall gridlock when lawmakers return in January. 'From this point forward…everything is going to be so hard around here,' said Senate Democratic Leader Doug Beck. 'It's going to be very hard.' Missouri voters in 2010 overwhelmingly enacted tougher standards on dog breeders in the hopes of eliminating the state's reputation as the puppy-mill capital of America. A few months later, lawmakers repealed the law and replaced it with a far less stringent version. In the years since, the legislature repealed a nonpartisan redistricting plan enacted by initiative petition in 2020; refused to implement voter-approved Medicaid expansion until the state Supreme Court ordered it to in 2021; and this year repealed a paid sick leave law that 58% of voters enacted in November. Republicans also put a constitutional amendment banning abortion on the 2026 ballot, months after voters enshrined abortion rights in the Missouri Constitution. GOP lawmakers are quick to note that in the same elections that enacted all these policies, voters also put the GOP in control of every statewide office and sent a supermajority of the party to the legislature. And they contend voters were duped into supporting the proposals by well-financed campaigns. 'This is one of those things, of the problem with direct democracy,' state Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican, said earlier this year. 'This is exactly what our founders were expressively against when they formed this nation.' For Democrats and the activists who backed the initiative petitions, the reality is Republicans aren't concerned about the will of the people. 'They disrespect the voters,' Beck said. 'They don't care.' When Bayer purchased St. Louis-based Monsanto in 2018, it inherited an avalanche of litigation alleging the key ingredient in its Roundup weed killer — glyphosate — causes cancer. The German pharmaceutical and biotechnology group has paid about $10 billion to settle Roundup claims, according to the Wall Street Journal, and still faces about 67,000 pending cases. Roughly 25,000 of those cases are in Missouri, since Bayer's U.S. headquarters is in St. Louis. In 2023, a Cole County jury ordered the company to pay $1.56 billion to three plaintiffs, though a judge later reduced that to $622 million. The legal and financial peril has inspired the company to push legislation shielding itself from lawsuits alleging Roundup caused cancer. Two states — North Dakota and Georgia — have approved shield legislation. But the stakes in Missouri are especially high. A group tied to Bayer ran TV and radio ads in Missouri this year presenting glyphosate as a benign, beneficial chemical essential to modern agriculture that is at risk thanks to frivolous lawsuits. Legislative leaders, along with the governor, lined up in support of the shield legislation. The bill eked out of the House with barely enough votes to pass before running into a buzzsaw of opposition in the Senate. Leading the charge was the Senate Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republicans lawmakers who in recent years have enjoyed the financial backing of Missouri trial attorneys. The four-member Freedom Caucus's effort to kill the Roundup bill was joined by five other Republican senators after they were targeted with a direct mail campaign claiming resistance to passing the bill was a betrayal of President Donald Trump's fight against China. The rising opposition sealed the bill's fate, and few expect it to fare any better next year. The first-term GOP lieutenant governor didn't mince words earlier this month when he decried how the Senate conducted itself while debating the state budget. It is time for a change, Wasinger declared while presiding over the chamber, and he vowed to take a more active role in proceedings while also working to change the rules of the chamber. 'Uh… no,' was the response from Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O'Laughlin. A lieutenant governor doesn't have any of that power. Wasinger was out of line giving a speech in the Senate chambers in the first place, O'Laughlin said, because that is 'a right reserved for senators.' Soon after the kerfuffle, Republican state Sen. Jason Bean of Holcomb demanded Senate staff — both partisan and nonpartisan — be directed by leadership not to participate in any efforts by Wasinger to influence the rules or process. The next week, with Wasinger presiding, senators began making complicated procedural motions that appeared to befuddle the lieutenant governor. In the confusion, he incorrectly called for a vote on a bill too early, and when he tried to walk everything back left the Senate briefly paralyzed as staff worked to sort things out. Wasinger presided for a few more minutes before leaving the dais and sending a letter to Senate leaders informing them he would be absent the rest of the week. The Independent's Rudi Keller contributed to this story.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri lawmakers pass ban on cell phones in public school classrooms
State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, speaks March 5 in the Missouri House (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications). A bill passed by the state legislature Tuesday and on its way to the governor will require school districts to create a policy banning cell phone usage throughout the school day, including during breaks between classes and at lunch. A majority of U.S. adults support cell phone bans during class time, or 68% as recorded in a Pew Research Center poll. But restricting mobile phone use for the entire school day is less popular, with 36% in support. State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, a Democrat from Columbia, filed the cell-phone-ban legislation with restrictions only during instructional time. She wanted to give school boards and charter schools the ability to decide whether or not to place further limitations on cell phones, she told The Independent. Lawmakers decided to pursue the more restrictive policy, and Steinhoff believes students will see benefits academically and socially. 'The statistics really do hold that if we do the (full day), bell to bell, that's going to have the biggest turnaround,' she said. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, roughly 53% of school leaders believe that cell-phone usage has hurt students' learning abilities. And 72% say it has negatively impacted mental health. Many school districts have chosen to enact bans, and states around the country have been increasingly writing bans into law with restrictions passed in at least nine states and 10 states testing the policy in a pilot program since 2023. Missouri's full-day ban would be one of the more restrictive laws, but there are exceptions. Students who need a mobile device to accommodate a disability are exempted, and cell phones would be allowed if there is a safety emergency at school. The legislation also gives school districts and charter schools the ability to decide if teachers may allow students to use cell phones during class. The bill does not require phones to be locked up. School boards will have to decide whether devices will be stowed in designated areas or allowed in students' backpacks. Districts will have to enact a policy during the 2025-2026 school year. The legislation is part of a sweeping education package negotiated in the final weeks of the legislative session. It began as a three-page bill prescribing reporting requirements for school safety incidents. Now, at 138 pages, it contains bipartisan legislation, with multiple provisions aimed at school safety.
