Missouri Senate bitterness halts action as lawmakers prepare for final day of chaotic session

The Missouri Senate did nothing but fight during two brief floor sessions Thursday, with Majority Leader Cindy O’Laughlin stepping in during each to cut off acrimonious exchanges, first with a recess and then with adjournment.

As a result, the Senate considered no legislation on the penultimate day of this year’s session and seems unlikely to find a peaceful way to accomplish anything before they must go home at 6 p.m. Friday.

That leaves only a narrow path for what Republicans call their No. 1 priority for the year – changing the threshold for passing constitutional amendments. Senate Democrats filibustered a final vote on the measure for 50 hours this week before the sponsor, state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, abandoned the attempt.

Thursday afternoon, the House took up Coleman’s request that it remove items added to the proposal or negotiate over the differences, with the House sponsor, GOP state Rep. Alex Riley of Springfield, asking the House to reject it.

Instead, Riley won a 104-45 party-line vote refusing negotiations and asking the Senate to pass the proposal as it was approved in the House. Because the House had not acted and the Senate adjourned for the day, senators cannot be appointed to negotiate until Friday, too late under the House rules for any conference committee report to come to a vote.

The proposal would change the way votes are counted on constitutional amendments, which currently need only a statewide majority to pass. Under the measure, if approved by voters, that would change by adding a requirement that proposed amendments also win a majority vote in five of the state’s eight congressional districts.

A Democratic filibuster in February stripped Coleman’s proposal down to just the provisions changing the majority threshold. The House revived items removed during the filibuster to bar non-citizens from voting on state constitutional amendments and to outlaw donations or other actions in support of ballot measures by foreign governments and political parties.

During House debate Thursday, Riley acknowledged there is no time for negotiations.

“We put months into this to craft a package that can pass and at this point I stand by that package and I ask the House to join me in that,” Riley said.

State Rep. Barbara Phifer, a Kirkwood Democrat, challenged the provision on non-citizen voting.

For 100 years, Missouri has barred non-citizens from voting. A constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1924 took away a right that had been in place since 1865 for males who had declared their intent to become citizens.

Riley said there is “a lot of ambiguity” around noncitizen voting.

“You absolutely don’t have any proof whatsoever,” Phifer said. “It seems to me that the whole thing’s pretty unserious.”

‘Clown show’

The Senate’s morning session became chaotic when state Sen. Bill Eigel of Weldon Spring, a leader of the Missouri Freedom Caucus faction, sought to amend the daily journal to brand his GOP opponents as betrayers of their party.

Referring to Thursday’s vote to ask the House for a conference, Eigel offered an amendment to state that just before the action, “the Senate was interrupted by a stampeding herd of rhinoceroses running through the Senate chamber, laying waste to the institution.”

Hard-right conservatives call more moderate members RINOS, or Republicans in Name Only.

O’Laughlin immediately asked for a recess.

When members returned about 2:30 p.m., Eigel withdrew his amendment and it was GOP state Sen. Mike Cierpiot’s turn.

His proposal to amend the journal drew blood with a direct attack on three members of the Freedom Caucus being sued by Denton Loudermill for defamation for social media posts tying Loudermill to the shootings at the Kansas City Chiefs championship victory parade. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey is providing legal defense for state Sens. Nick Schroer of Defiance, Rick Brattin of Harrisonville and Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg.

Cierpiot, of Lee’s Summit, wanted the journal to read that “it is the opinion of the Missouri Senate that the office of the attorney general should not expend any money from the state legal expense fund” to defend Hoskins, Schroer and Brattin.

The explosion that followed is why O’Laughlin stepped in to adjourn.

Sen. Mike Moon was defeated on a motion to table Cierpiot’s amendment, then Eigel jumped to his feet. He said the warring factions had acceded to a ceasefire in order to adjourn the Senate for the final time this session, understanding that little else could be accomplished.

“I thought we were gonna come out here and peacefully adjourn but then there’s got to be another shot by” Cierpiot, Eigel said.

Instead, Eigel said, the personal attacks continue.

“I’m sure he’s got a lot of folks that are going to maybe try to drive this amendment through hatred, because that’s what we’ve actually seen this chamber operate on,” he said.

Eigel was about three minutes into his speech when O’Laughlin made the motion to adjourn. That brought an objection from Moon, who was ignored as the vote was taken. He was left shouting, after the microphones were turned off.

“This is an affront to our rules,” Moon said. “It should not happen.”

Cierpiot was unapologetic for his proposal. The Senate has been an embarrassment because of the Freedom Caucus and taxpayers should not pay for their courtroom defense, he said.

“It’s embarrassing,” Cierpiot told The Independent. “The Freedom Caucus has made it a clown show and with the rules we have, if people are dedicated to be part of a clown show it is hard to shut it down.”

Eigel, in an interview with The Independent, said the venomous floor sessions showed the true personality of the Senate.

“The Senate’s demonstrated once again,” Eigel said, “that it is being driven by petty politics and personal vendettas.”

Jason Hancock of The Independent staff contributed to this report.