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Missourinet

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You are here: Home / Archives for Representative Ben Baker

Missouri bills would move some local races and issues to a later election

February 12, 2021 By Alisa Nelson

Local races and issues, like fire district and school board as well as tax increase and bond proposals, could be moved from April to later in the year. Some members of the Missouri Legislature have filed bills this session that aim to make the switch.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (file photo courtesy of the Secretary of State’s office)

During a Missouri House Budget Committee hearing this week, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a Republican, says he has not taken a position on the idea. However, he says there would be savings if the election was moved from April to November.

“You are not having the cost of all the absentee ballots and ballots that you would have had in April,” says Ashcroft. “You would have roughly the same amount in November, but they might be a little bit longer. So, their costs would increase a little bit. But that’s probably a cost decrease. I think there will be a cost decrease if that were to be done. I cannot tell you that it would be substantial. I find it difficult to believe that there would be a cost increase.”

Representative Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, was the longtime Carroll County Clerk in northwest Missouri. She disagrees that there would be a savings.

She goes on to say she is not a fan of making those election changes.

“I think there is going to be a lot of talk about how difficult it would be to put all those layers and all the different races on one ballot,” says McGaugh.

She says voter fatigue is real.

“That occurs when the ballots are so long,” says McGaugh. “And so, the danger is that the lower-level fire districts and the townships, by the time the people have voted for everybody else up above, they’re done. They’re going walk out without voting. So, I think it’s a real danger to the local entities to put them on partisan ballots.”

State Rep. Peggy McGaugh, R-Carrollton, speaks on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City on May 13, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Bill 920, sponsored by Neosho Republican Representative Ben Baker, would change the election day for the election of political subdivision and special district officers to the first Tuesday after the first Monday from April to November each year.

During a hearing about the bill, supporters said local election turnout is historically low and the measure would boost participation.

Opponents of the bill included Matt Morrow, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce; The City of Springfield; Missouri Municipal League; and Missouri Association of School Administrators. One argument made was election workers would be overwhelmed by the change. Another one was county clerks will have difficulty applying all the configuration of ballots that will be necessary to make sure citizens received the correct ballots for their district.

Senate Bill 414, sponsored by Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, has some similar components.

Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, is proposing SJR 5, a Constitutional amendment that would ask voters to move all elections for local tax increases to a general election.

Copyright © 2021 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Elections, Legislature, News Tagged With: Missouri House Budget Committee, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Representative Ben Baker, Representative Peggy McGaugh, Senator Bill Eigel, Senator Rick Brattin

Drag queens, supporters rally against proposed drag queen story hour ban

March 7, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Story time

State Representative Ben Baker, R-Neosho, wants to ban drag queen story time at public libraries. About 300 people, including queens dressed in full drag and LGBT supporters, rallied Saturday at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City against Baker’s bill. Missouri Capitol Police provided security and crowd control.

The event included many holding signs like “Knowledge is power” and “Closed books equal closed minds”. They chanted “Hey hey ho ho, this legislation’s got to go” against Baker’s bill and 18 other anti-LGBT proposals filed this year – a record number nationwide, according to Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield.

Drag queen Autumn also hosted a brief story time for kids and adults at the rally. Questions at the end included kids asking Autumn about favorite books, comic books and food.

Drag queen Maxi Glamour

Columbia drag queen Lorilie says the story hours encourage kids to read and to experience diversity.

“The kids that come – they’re engaged, they’re intrigued and they love to see, like I said, they love to see these different creatures,” says Lorilie. “Like I said, it’s all about visibility. Like they need to be exposed to things that are not the norm – that are not like what they’re used to growing up. We want to see them grow. We want to see them strive. They are the future and the future can be bright if we allow it to be.”

Amelia, of St. Louis, says she and her family have gone to drag queen story hour.

“It teaches me that it doesn’t matter what you are or what you do. It’s always good to serve,” she says. “I really liked how at the end you can make like a pin. It was really fun and inspiring.”

Baker’s proposed ban could result in state funding being pulled from public libraries and librarians being fined or jailed for displaying “age-inappropriate material” to kids.

On Twitter, Baker says the American Library Association is “purposefully pushing drag queen story hour” and members “don’t want the public to know what is going on at these events”. Baker’s post did not explain what he thinks is going on at these events. He did tell the Kansas City Star that the story hours are a public safety issue because they have drawn child predators.

Another one of his posts says he thinks parents are the ones pushing their children to participate in the events to appear woke – term used to describe being aware of racial and social injustice.

More than 27,000 people have signed a petition in support of Baker’s measure.

His legislation, House Bill 2044, has not yet been assigned to a committee.

Copyright © 2020 · Missourinet

Filed Under: Education, Legislature, News Tagged With: Representative Ben Baker

Drag queen rally planned to protest Missouri bill against drag queen story hour

January 22, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Neosho State Representative Ben Baker wants restrictions on content offered at Missouri’s libraries because he has a problem with drag queen story hours being held at them. St. Joseph and St. Louis Public Libraries have both held story times featuring people dressed in drag. Under Baker’s bill, public libraries could lose state funding and librarians could be fined or jailed for displaying age-inappropriate material.

Rep. Ben Baker, R-Neosho

Tanner Rambo, who’s helping to plan a rally to protest the bill, says drag queen story hours are not the same as drag queen shows.

“Even on a cruise ship, a standup comedian does one show at 9 p.m. that’s accessible for everyone,” Rambo tells Missourinet affiliate KWOS in Jefferson City. “And then he or she does another show at midnight that’s only allowed to 18 and up. If you’re going to a nightclub in the middle of the night to see a show, chances are it’s adult-only content. Any kind of comment that these story hours are somehow involving nudity or in any way comparable to strippers, is just completely erroneous.”

Baker, a Republican, told the Kansas City Star that the story hours are a public safety issue because they have drawn child predators. Baker is a minister and the former dean of students at Ozark Bible Institute in Neosho.

The rally is planned for March 7 at the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City.

Baker’s legislation, House Bill 2044, has not been assigned to a committee yet.

Filed Under: Legislature, News Tagged With: Representative Ben Baker



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