State Rep. Kip Kendrick Archives

Missouri House committees to hear crime bills on Monday; Kendrick wants to expand special session call

August 14, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Three Missouri House committees plan hearings on Monday afternoon in Jefferson City, relating to the special session on violent crime.

House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann, R-O’Fallon, and Majority Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, announced earlier this week that they would simplify the process with single-subject bills to protect the integrity of the lawmaking process and to ensure the issues are thoroughly vetted.

Missouri House Judiciary Committee Chairman David Gregory, R-St. Louis County, checks paperwork at a hearing on August 10, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Ben Peters at House Communications)

The House Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by State Rep. David Gregory, R-St. Louis County, will hear three bills on Monday, including legislation from State Rep. Ron Hicks, R-Dardenne Prairie, that would eliminate the residency requirement for St. Louis Police officers.

The Hicks bill says that St. Louis Police cannot impose a residency requirement on their officers, more stringent than a one-hour response time. St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden has testified that the residency requirement is the greatest challenge that his department has with recruitment and retention. Opponents of the plan say it’s safer for neighborhoods to have the officers living in the city.

The Judiciary Committee will also hear a bill on Monday about witness protection. State Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, has filed legislation that would create a pretrial witness protection services fund, which would be administered by the state Department of Public Safety (DPS) to law enforcement agencies. The money would be used to provide security to witnesses, potential witnesses and their immediate families in criminal proceedings or investigations.

The Judiciary Committee will also hold a hearing on legislation from State Rep. Barry Hovis, R-Cape Girardeau, regarding witness and victim tampering.

The House Special Committee on Criminal Justice will hold a Monday hearing on legislation from State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, which would allow Missouri courts to certify some juveniles as adults for violent weapons offenses.

Governor Mike Parson (R) has called for this provision, saying it’s aimed at violent crime, such as murder and rape.

But State Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, and other critics say it will lock up children and put them in prison with violent offenders and murderers. Aldridge and others protested in downtown Jefferson City this week.

“Charge them as an adult because that is how we are going to fix violence- by being tough on crime to individuals that have made a mistake and should be held accountable but you are charging our youngest babies,” Aldridge said Thursday. “When do we go to ten? When do we go to nine? What’s going to be next? Eight? Seven? We are locking up literally babies and putting them in jail with serial killers.”

The House General Laws Committee will hold a Monday hearing on two bills from Representative Schroer. One involves the unlawful transfer of weapons, and the other involves endangering the welfare of a child.

Meantime, Governor Parson spoke to Missouri House members today about the special session on violent crime. The governor hosted conference calls with House members. Parson spokeswoman Kelli Jones tells Missourinet that there have been several calls today.

There have been 167 homicides in St. Louis in 2020. The city had 194 murders in 2019. The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reports there have been 15 child homicides so far in 2020, which tops all of last year.

Across the state in Kansas City, there have been 124 homicides. There were 90, at this point in 2019 in Kansas City.

The governor expanded his special session call on Monday, to include a provision to allow the state attorney general’s office to take on some murder cases that haven’t been prosecuted yet by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner (D). The governor says this is about fighting violent crime.

Circuit Attorney Gardner and the bipartisan Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys oppose that plan.

A hearing on a Gardner-related bill has not been scheduled, at this time.

The Missouri Senate approved the crime bill earlier this month, by a bipartisan 27-3 vote. The full Missouri House is scheduled to return to Jefferson City on Monday August 24.

There was another development in Jefferson City on Friday, when State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, requested that the governor expand the special session call to address absentee ballots for the November general election.

Representative Kendrick, the House Budget Committee’s ranking Democrat, wants the General Assembly to take legislative and appropriation action to ensure that every Missourian’s properly postmarked, but late delivered, absentee ballot for November will count.

Kendrick, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, and others will address Capitol reporters Monday in Jefferson City, about the issue.

Missouri House committee to hear Tuesday testimony from Vandeven and Williams about COVID-19

August 7, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s health director and the education commissioner will both testify Tuesday in Jefferson City before a bipartisan Missouri House Committee that’s related to the coronavirus.

Missouri Commissioner of Education Dr. Margie Vandeven briefs Capitol reporters in Jefferson City on July 6, 2020 (file photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

The Missouri House Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention will meet Tuesday morning at 10:30 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City. The committee is chaired by State Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, a private practice general surgeon. The committee’s ranking Democrat is State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia. Kendrick is the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

The committee will be examining the decision by school districts in reopening buildings to students, and will get an update on Missouri’s use of federal CARES Act funding.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says Missouri now has 57,379 confirmed cases, up from 55,321 on Wednesday.

Chairman Patterson tells Missourinet that DHSS Director Dr. Randall Williams will testify on Tuesday morning, about the trajectory Missouri is on. Dr. Patterson is also interested what will happen if/when a COVID-19 vaccine is developed. Patterson wants to know if DHSS has a plan in place.

Another key part of Tuesday’s hearing will involve Missouri Commissioner of Education Dr. Margie Vandeven, who will testify about schools.

Chairman Patterson notes that he has a nine-year-old and a six-year-old in public school. He says the number one issue he’s hearing about from constituents is about school plans.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson says his office has worked closely with the State Departments of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and DHSS to address questions about reopening.

Earlier this week, DESE and DHSS released updated schoool reopening guidance, which addresses frequently asked questions. DESE and DHSS recommend that local school leaders require school staff members to wear face coverings, “as the data indicates COVID-19 transmission is more likely from adult to student, than from student to adult.”

Contact tracing is also addressed in the report from DESE and DHSS.

Governor Parson says the state is working to help school districts with personal protective equipment (PPE), noting that 1.8 million cloth masks have been made available through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

The governor says DESE and SEMA are currently working to develop a plan to distribute the masks to Missouri school districts.

Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, announced the committee’s creation earlier this year. Chairman Patterson notes this will be the committee’s second hearing: they met on March 2 and heard testimony from Dr. Williams.

At that time, Dr. Williams testified there had been no confirmed cases in Missouri. About 100 people had been self-monitoring, according to testimony.

Governor Parson says Missouri is one of the states the White House is concerned about, with increasing COVID-19 cases. The governor told Capitol reporters this week that Vice President Mike Pence called him on Sunday, to offer additional assistance and resources to battle the pandemic.

Two Democrats added to governor’s coronavirus funding work group

April 23, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

House Democrat Kip Kendrick

The State Treasurer’s Office says two Democrats – State Representative Kip Kendrick of Columbia and Senator Karla May of St. Louis – have joined Gov. Mike Parson’s coronavirus funding working group. Members are tasked with recommending to the governor the best way to spend $2.3 billion in federal money to combat the virus.

Kendrick is the ranking Democrat on the Missouri House Budget Committee. As a state representative, May served on the Budget Committee and was the ranking minority member of the Subcommittee on Appropriations – Public Safety, Corrections, Transportation and Revenue.

Parson has been criticized for not originally including any Democrats, women or people of color on the panel. State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick, a Republican from southwest Missouri’s Shell Knob, is the chairman of the group. Before Parson appointed him to serve in his current role, Fitzpatrick was the House Budget Committee Chairman.

Sen. Karla May (photo courtesy; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

“I think at the end of the day the governor is interested in having a group of people that will have relevant experience and can provide results to him,” Fitzpatrick tells Missouri. “The demographics things are, I think, kind of a secondary concern.”

Other group members include State Budget Director Dan Haug, Missouri Public Service Commission Chairman and former Missouri House Budget Committee Chairman Ryan Silvey, Missouri House Budget Committee Vice Chairman David Wood, State Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, Department of Natural Resources legislative liaison Rich Germinder and Dan Burgess, legislative director for Missouri U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt.

“I think what the governor was trying to accomplish was having some legislative input, some federal input with a member of the federal delegation staff representative there, somebody from a staff level from the executive branch as well as the budget director and myself and then also Budget Chairman Ryan Silvey,” says Fitzpatrick.

So far, Missouri has had at least 208 coronavirus related deaths and more than 6,100 people have tested positive for the respiratory disease. COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting African-Americans in Missouri.

Missouri Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick (Photos courtesy of the Treasurer’s Office)

Fitzpatrick says Missouri has already received $1.18 billion – half of the total federal allocation. The rest of the money could come later this week. The state is still awaiting federal guidance on the way it can spend the money in response to the coronavirus.

Auditor Nicole Galloway, a Democrat challenging Parson for governor, is reviewing the way the state is using the funding.

Fitzpatrick says he hopes to have the first meeting next week. It will be held in a public setting. The location is unknown at this time.

DHSS: Missouri now has 110 COVID-19 deaths

April 12, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

State health officials say there are now 4,160 confirmed coronavirus cases in Missouri, along with 110 deaths.

The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced the latest numbers on Easter Sunday afternoon. The numbers have increased from Friday’s total of 3,799 cases and 96 deaths.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson signs the $6.2 billion supplemental budget to fight COVID-19 on April 10, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Governor Parson’s Flickr page)

Governor Mike Parson (R) signed the historic $6.2 billion supplemental budget on Friday, the largest supplemental budget in Missouri history. It’s aimed at battling the COVID-19 pandemic, which has cost thousands of jobs across the state.

The governor said Friday that the supplemental provides access to federal funding under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was signed by President Donald Trump in late March.

The CARES Act includes $150 billion in relief to states to help them mitigate coronavirus-related costs in the calendar year 2020.

Some of the funding will also be used to assist local governments with expenses incurred from COVID-19. State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, has been urging the Parson administration to send additional money to local health departments, saying they are critical to containing the coronavirus.

Kendrick is the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

Governor Parson has created an informal working group to make recommendations on best use of those federal dollars. State Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick (R) is the leader of the working group.

The governor will deliver his next media briefing Monday afternoon at 3 in Jefferson City.

Missouri lawmakers approve $6.2 billion supplemental to battle the coronavirus

April 8, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The Missouri Legislature voted Wednesday in Jefferson City to approve a historic $6.2 billion emergency relief package to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed at least 58 Missourians and has cost thousands of jobs across the state.

A masked Missouri House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, strikes the gavel to begin House proceedings on the COVID-19 supplemental on April 8, 2020, with empty galleries (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

The Senate approved the bill first, before the House took it up and approved it on a 147-4 vote. Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, tells Missourinet that he and House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, have signed the supplemental budget, sending it to the governor’s desk.

The House debate was unlike anything that’s ever been seen in the chamber, with Speaker Haahr wearing a mask and the chamber limited to ten people at one time. There were no visitors sitting in the upper galleries, which normally are full of lobbyists, schoolchildren and the general public.

State Rep. David Wood, R-Versailles, says the supplemental includes additional funding for suicide prevention and mental health.

“When you put people into a stressful situation and forcing them to stay home without a paycheck and wondering how they’re going to make it to the next month, that leads to some very serious consequences,” Wood says.

Governor Mike Parson says more than 100,000 Missourians have filed for unemployment this past week.

State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, says local health departments across Missouri are critical to containing COVID-19.

State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, speaks in support of the COVID-19 supplemental budget on April 8, 2020 in Jefferson City (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

“We would ask that the executive branch remember the local health departments who are really underfunded at the state level, across the board,” Kendrick says.

The supplemental also includes $90 million for nursing homes to help with infection control. The state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) says Missouri has 3,327 COVID-19 cases and 58 deaths.

While the House vote was bipartisan, Wednesday’s floor debate did become heated briefly when Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, said Republicans reacted with scorn, when House Democrats tried to increase funding for the coronavirus outbreak three weeks ago.

“When we (House Democrats) warned that the $33 million in pandemic spending authority then included in the supplemental appropriations bill was woefully insufficient, folks on the other side accused us of political exploitation and shameful behavior,” Quade says.

But House Majority Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, fired back, accusing Democrats of politicizing the issue.

“There is no action we could have taken three weeks ago that would have kept us from being here today,” says Vescovo. “The truth is, the only people playing politics with this very serious issue are the ones on the other side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker.”

Wednesday’s House vote featured members wearing masks and going into the chamber to vote, four at a time. Only a few House microphones were used, and the chamber’s back door was kept open, so members did not have to touch door knobs.

House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage, notes the supplemental increased from $413 million a few weeks ago to the current total of $6.2 billion.

Chairman Smith says the supplemental budget also includes about $300 million in funding for K-12 schools to handle COVID-19 related expenses. He says it also includes $12 million for Head Start.

During his floor speech, Smith warned against partisanship, saying Missourians have died from the coronavirus and that others are hurting and need help.

Across the chamber in the Senate, Pro Tem Schatz (R) and Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, D-Independence, also praise the supplemental’s importance.

Rizzo says the relief package is the most robust funding for progressive policies that Missouri has ever seen. He notes it includes $40 million for food banks and Meals on Wheels.

Missouri’s health director testifies the state is well-prepared for coronavirus

March 2, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s health director testified Monday afternoon in Jefferson City that he’s hoping for the best and preparing for the worst regarding the coronavirus.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director Dr. Randall Williams testifies before the House Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention in Jefferson City on March 2, 2020 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Director, Dr. Randall Williams, appeared before the newly-created Missouri House Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Williams testifies there have been no confirmed cases in Missouri. About 100 people have been self-monitoring, and Dr. Williams says the department has had fewer than 15 people under investigation, which includes testing.

DHSS says about 80 people in Missouri have been evaluated by epidemiologists.

Director Williams testifies that hand washing is the key thing to remember.

“When people ask me how good or bad this is, the answer I always give is I’m not going to speculate. I don’t know but I’ll tell you this,” Williams testifies. “If you will use good handwashing for 20 seconds, as described by the CDC.”

The CDC is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Williams also recommends avoiding touching your eyes or mouth with unwashed hands.

“We don’t have a vaccination, so that will not be available to us. We do not have antivirals that are readily available,” says Dr. Williams.

Director Williams testifies Missouri is well-prepared, noting DHSS has held daily meetings since January 27. He emphasizes that the United States has an excellent health care system, and also praises the preparation of Missouri’s health directors and providers.

Williams is not making a supplemental budget request right now, regarding the coronavirus. He tells the committee that the federal government will be offering the money Missouri will need. Williams doesn’t think DHSS will need general revenue.

During a Statehouse press conference on Monday, House Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, told Missourinet that the Legislature will be ready if a request comes. Haahr notes he spoke about the issue earlier on Monday, with House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith, R-Carthage.

“If money is needed, the ability to put that in the supplemental (budget) to get that money to the people who need it quickly,” Speaker Haahr says. “I know on the federal level, there has been quite a bit of discussion about the amount of money that’s needed. Obviously, it’s going to take some time to turn around a vaccine on this.”

Governor Mike Parson and DHSS Director Williams will meet with Cabinet members Tuesday afternoon in Jefferson City. The governor and Dr. Williams also plan a press conference.

State Rep. Jonathan Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, chairs the House Special Committee on Disease Control and Prevention. He’s a surgeon. State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, is the ranking Democrat. Both lawmakers emphasize this is a bipartisan issue. Speaker Haahr agrees.

State Rep. Ashley Bland Manlove, D-Kansas City, who serves on the committee, has requested an unclassified briefing on the impact on the Missouri National Guard, specifically those who have been overseas. Representative Bland Manlove is a former intelligence analyst for the Missouri National Guard.