State Rep. Trish Gunby Archives

Missouri’s 2021 legislative session starts Wednesday; Rob Vescovo set to become House Speaker

January 5, 2021 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri lawmakers will return to Jefferson City on Wednesday for the start of the 2021 session. Both the Senate and House will gavel-in at noon.

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to be the major issue again this session, like 2020. Missouri’s current operating budget is about $38 billion, which includes two major supplemental budgets with federal money.

State Rep. Steven Roberts (D-St. Louis) will be sworn-in to the Senate on Wednesday. He’s seen here on House floor on April 27, 2020 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Republicans will control the Missouri Senate 24-10 this session. That’s a supermajority.

11 newly-elected state senators and six returning state senators will be sworn-in on Wednesday. Several of the new state senators are moving over from the House. They include State Reps. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, Holly Rehder, R-Scott City, Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, and Steven Roberts, D-St. Louis.

Razer, Rehder, Moon and Roberts were elected to the Senate in November.

The Republicans also have a supermajority in the Missouri House this session, 114-47. There is one vacancy that was created when then-State Rep. Kip Kendrick, D-Columbia, resigned to become chief of staff for Senator-Elect Razer.

The House Wednesday is expected to elect the first Speaker in state history from eastern Missouri’s Arnold. State Rep. Rob Vescovo (R) has served as the House Majority Floor Leader for three years. Vescovo was first elected to the House in 2014 and will be starting his fourth term.

Vescovo is a former member of the Jefferson County Port Authority.

Springfield Republican Elijah Haahr served as Speaker from November 2018 until last Thursday, and has termed out of the House.

Missouri House Majority Leader Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, stands on House floor on May 15, 2020. He’s set to become Speaker on Wednesday (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) will briefly preside over the House on Wednesday, once session begins. The House will then elect a temporary speaker from the chamber, who will preside over the vote for Speaker.

All Missouri House members will be sworn-in on Wednesday. That will include 46 new members who have never served before. It also includes the six members who were elected during November 2019 special elections. They are State Reps. Yolanda Young, D-Kansas City, Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, Mark Sharp, D-Kansas City, Trish Gunby, D-Manchester, Mike Person, D-Ferguson and Scott Cupps, R-Shell Knob. Young, Aldridge, Sharp, Gunby, Person and Cupps were re-elected in November.

There will also be three new Missouri House members who served in the chamber previously. They are State Reps. Joe Adams, D-University City, Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, and Bill Owen, R-Springfield.

Owen will return to the Missouri House for the first time since 1981-1982. He served one term, after being elected in 1980.

There will also be a bipartisan legislative prayer service Wednesday morning in Jefferson City, to mark the start of session. It will take place at 9 a.m. at Concord Baptist Church, which is across the street from Capital Mall. There will not be a breakfast this year.

Missouri House Democrats optimistic about November

February 6, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri House Democrats say the winds of political change are blowing in the Show-Me State, and they’re predicting change at the ballot box in November for the Missouri House.

Six new Missouri House members were sworn in on January 8, 2020. They are, from left to right, State Reps. Mike Person, D-Ferguson, Rasheen Aldridge, D-St. Louis, Mark Sharp, D-Kansas City, Scott Cupps, R-Shell Knob, Yolanda Young, D-Kansas City, and Trish Gunby, D-Manchester (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, D-Springfield, says the November election of Manchester Democrat Trish Gunby in a previously GOP district is significant.

“What that says to us (House Democrats) is that folks are frustrated with the extremes of the Republican Party in Missouri,” Quade recently told Capitol reporters in Jefferson City.

Gunby defeated Ballwin Republican Lee Ann Pitman in November’s special election. Gunby received 3,357 votes to Pitman’s 2,855.

The district, which is in west St. Louis County, was formerly held by Missouri Republican Party executive director Jean Evans.

“So what that means for the upcoming elections is we’re going to continue to talk about the extremism that’s happening here, and the things that Missourians deserve and are asking for, like health care among many other things,” Quade says.

While Quade has described the 99th House district as a “solid red district”, Evans has noted that former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) received more votes than Republican challenger Josh Hawley in that district in 2018.

Republicans currently control the Missouri House 114-48. Democrats won five of the six November House special elections. Four of the five seats they won are strong Democratic districts.

One key issue for Democrats is Medicaid expansion, an issue Gunby campaigned on. Quade says Democrats will also focus on growing gun violence.