JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri Legislature seemed poised to get off to a fast start when lawmakers convened in January for the beginning of their annual session.
On tap were issues ranging from the approval of a new congressional map, a $5.3 billion budget request from Gov. Mike Parson that would give raises to a depleted state workforce and the confirmation of the Republican governor’s pick to lead the state’s health department in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.
After one month, none of those high priority items have materialized in a state where Parson’s fellow Republicans control nearly all the levers of government.
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On Tuesday, the House and Senate canceled their session for the week because of the looming bad weather, but not before the Republican-controlled Senate handed Parson a crushing loss by failing to sign off on his appointment of Donald Kauerauf as the director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
In the midst of a pandemic, Kauerauf was seen by supporters as a steady hand with 35 years of public health experience in Illinois following the sometimes erratic performance of his predecessor, Dr. Randall Williams, an appointee of former Gov. Eric Greitens who was ushered out the door with little explanation last year.
The budget request that would provide 5.5% raises to the state’s historically low paid workforce also is languishing, despite a constant drumbeat of bad news from state agencies struggling to recruit and retain public servants who help build roads, oversee prisons and care for the mentally ill.
And, the congressional map has become a focal point of GOP-led consternation, as debate among Republicans appears to have shifted from whether to slash a safe Democratic congressional district in Kansas City to debate over how to draw the currently suburban St. Louis County-based 2nd Congressional District, held by U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin.
Longtime observers, including lobbyists and staffers who patrol the Capitol’s marble-lined corridors, say the level of dysfunction is higher than usual in the upper chamber, leading to questions over what might be accomplished this year.
Parson, who served in the Senate and House, has largely been reduced to a lame-duck spectator amid infighting within his own party.
Following Kauerauf’s rejection, Parson issued a stinging rebuke of the chamber he once served in.
“I pray that honor, integrity, and order can be returned to the Missouri Senate and that it comes sooner rather than later,†the state’s 57th governor said in a statement.
Public health officials expressed dismay at the outcome.
In a tweet, St. Louis Director of Health Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis called the rejection an “an attack on public health.â€
“I’m so deeply disgusted by this. Don is a good man and Director, who did not deserve this. He always answered my call, answered any question transparently and always helped where he could,†she wrote.
I’m so deeply disgusted by this. Don is a good man and Director, who did not deserve this. He always answered my call, answered any question transparently and always helped where he could. This attack on public health in Missouri MUST stop now because actual lives are at stake
— Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, MD, MPH (@MatiH_ID)
Sen. , D-St. Louis, said she’s not sure how Republicans can bridge their differences in the Senate.
“This is getting to be ridiculous. We are in a very interesting political climate and I’m hoping we have reasonable, morally conscious people who will do the right thing and not tilt this ship all the way to the right until it sinks,†May said. “This is not the normal Republican Party. So right now, it’s hard to gauge where things will go.â€
Running for higher office
Friction among Republicans has been brewing since the formation of the Senate’s “Conservative Caucus,†which is primarily comprised of GOP Sens. of Lake Saint Louis, of Weldon Spring, of Warrensburg, of Manchester, of Ash Grove, of Harrisonville and of Battlefield.
In December, the so-called “regular†Republicans aligned with Senate Majority Leader , R-Columbia, and excluded them from a private strategy meeting designed to determine how to navigate the jampacked upcoming session in an election year where many lawmakers are seeking to jump to higher office.
Senate President , R-Sullivan, is running for U.S. Senate. Moon and Burlison are running for the 7th Congressional District nomination. Brattin is running in the 4th Congressional District. Onder is running for St. Charles County executive.
The fractured GOP majority has brought the chamber’s 10 Democrats into the mix, potentially giving them a voice at the negotiating table in search of finding the 18 votes needed to pass a bill.
Parson said the Senate needs a reset after the hard-liners seeking higher office scored their win by blocking Kauerauf.
“It’s unfortunate that we now have to disrupt state operations and the leadership at an entire department because the Missouri Senate chose to indulge a few men’s egos,†he said in a statement issued hours after lawmakers had scurried from the building amid the potential snowstorm.
Urgent budget matters
Along with getting a congressional map in place, the Legislature faces the challenge of finding agreement on the supplemental spending bill requested by Parson.
Without one, the state could lose $2 billion in federal education funding if the plan isn’t signed by the governor by late March.
That question remains mired in the House, where House Budget Committee Chairman , R-Carthage, has not publicly shared the urgency for action that Parson wanted in the first month of the session.
Parson’s apparent inability to motivate his fellow Republicans comes as his agency heads have been testifying in budget hearings about woeful conditions in a variety of public services that are supposed to be provided by the state.
More than 200 people are waiting in county jails for mental health services because of a shortage of space and employees to serve them. Prisons are closing housing units because of a shortage of workers. Temporary workers have been brought in to help at a number of short-staffed departments.
The impasse in the Senate has raised the hackles of some members of the House, who remain unsure if any of their priorities will make it through the upper chamber, not to mention concerns about the ongoing operations of state government.
In a joint statement, Reps. , D-St. Louis, and , D-Shrewsbury, denounced the conditions under which Kauerauf resigned from his position.
Appelbaum, the ranking minority member of the House Health and Mental Health Committee, said Kauerauf was “castigated and slandered by extremists in the Missouri Senate who have politicized a national crisis.â€
The two lawmakers said the rejection of Parson’s pick will empower the senators who led the charge to oust Kauerauf to “continue working in their own self-serving interests and not in the interests of Missourians.â€
Originally posted at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2.Â
The spending blueprint includes billions of dollars for construction of roads, university and community college building and large and small communities.Â