The Christian County and Franklin County Republican Central Committees are calling on Gov. Mike Parson to convene a special legislative session before the end of the year.
The conservative coalitions want the priorities that fell by the wayside earlier this year to be addressed before the 2024 legislative session because they believe next year's elections will create a distraction.
“You've got four statewide races, three or four senators who are term-limited, and then you've got three or four senators running for re-election and then you've got several people in the house that are running for the vacant Senate seats so there's just gonna be a lot of turmoil,” said Byron Keelin, president of the Freedom Principle MO, a Missourian-first 501(c)3.
Under Article IV, Section 9 of the Missouri Constitution, Parson is empowered to call a special session and the three groups want him to instruct the legislature to enact Initiative Petition Reform; allow gold and silver bullion to be used as legal tender statewide, prohibit land ownership by foreign individuals, companies, and entities as well as enact real estate and personal property tax limits and/or freezes, and require the labeling of any food or consumer products that contain mRNA technology.
“From our perspective, these are issues that the Republicans campaigned for in 2022 and didn't deliver on them in 2023,” Keelin told the St. Louis Record. “These are the important issues that Missouri citizens are focused on, and we don't seem to be taking them seriously. It's time for our leadership to start showing up and demanding action.”
Bills that didn't make it over the finish line include HJR 66, an initiative petition that would have banned non-citizens from voting in our elections, HB 702, which would have given control of the St. Louis City police to the state, and HB 301, which would have allowed Gov. Parson to appoint a special prosecutor to replace a prosecutor for not prosecuting criminals.
“Senate leadership fumbled the ball at the one-yard line,” Keelin said in an interview. "Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden negotiated a deal that killed HB 702 and HB 301.”
Keelin said a special session would only require 3 to 4 weeks but the governor has no plan to call an additional session at this time, according to Parson's press secretary Johnathan Shiflett.
"Gov. Parson needs to show that he actually cares about what happens to the state and by calling a special session and addressing these issues, he would have an opportunity to turn a bad situation from the train wreck that happened in the legislative session this past year into something good," Keelin added.