Rehder rips Republican colleagues for avoiding opioid bill

State Rep. Holly Rehder blasted the actions of a few "conservative" senators for preventing creation of a statewide prescription drug monitoring program as the legislative session headed for a close this week.

In a letter emailed Wednesday night to House and Senate lawmakers, a frustrated Rehder wrote, "We shouldn't stand idly by and let the actions of a few destroy the future for so many."

Rehder, a Scott County Republican, has championed the legislation for the past seven years without success.

Missouri is the only state that does not have a statewide monitoring program designed to combat opioid addiction.

The House overwhelmingly passed Rehder's bill in February. But with the session ending at 6 p.m. today. Rehder wrote "it's safe to say this won't be the year that it finally gets done."

She added that many Missourians are "silently struggling with this epidemic."

Rehder wrote, "Year after year as we have failed to act thousands of our citizens have lost their lives ... We have let the petulant voices of an extreme minority, day by day, week by week and now year by year, rob Missouri of its future."

Rehder said Thursday the six-member, so-called "Conservative Caucus" blocked her bill by threatening to filibuster it to keep it from coming up for a vote in the Senate.

State Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, said last week he favors the measure and believes a majority of his colleagues also would back the bill if it were to come up for a vote.

Rehder said the maneuvering of the Conservative Caucus assure that won't happen.

The caucus earlier this week filibustered legislation to provide up to $50 million in tax credits for General Motors to expand an assembly plant in Wentzville, and funding for Fast Track training program scholarships for adult workers.

But after more than 27 hours, caucus members dropped the filibuster. Caucus member and state Sen. Bill Eigel said they ended their filibuster in order to allow a sweeping abortion bill to be brought up for a vote, The Associated Press reported.

Rehder said she supports the anti-abortion bill, but the actions of the caucus to move ahead with that legislation rather than first taking up the drug monitoring (PDMP) bill killed any chances the Senate might take up PDMP.

She said there was no doubt Republican lawmakers would pass the anti-abortion bill before the end of the session. With that being the case, Rehder said the Senate could have first dealt with PDMP were it not for the Conservative Caucus.

Besides Eigel, caucus senators include Bob Onder, Denny Hoskins, Andrew Koenig, Cindy O'Loughlin and Eric Burlison.

Hoskins wrote in his recent online capitol report he opposed bringing up PDMP when some Senate bills had not been considered by the House and were essentially being held "hostage."

Rehder saw it differently. She wrote in her letter the six senators have sewn "a path of obstruction not often based on conservative principles."

She added, "They have decided that their view of conservatism is better than not only that of their colleagues, but of even President (Donald) Trump."

Rehder wrote that Trump has advocated for a nationwide prescription drug monitoring program to address the opioid epidemic.

The Southeast Missouri lawmaker wrote in her letter caucus members had attacked her on social media and put "politics over people's lives."

According to Rehder, caucus members opposed PDMP at the state capitol while remaining silent about the issue back home.

While Missouri does not have a statewide system, some counties -- home to 87 percent of Missouri's residents -- have joined a prescription drug monitoring program established by the St. Louis County Health Department, including Cape Girardeau and Scott counties. The member counties include some of the jurisdictions that caucus members represent, Rehder said.

The caucus, she said, is blocking the "will of the majority" on this issue.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641