Updates
Investigating the Actions of DOR
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” — Wendell Phillips
Our nation’s Founding Fathers understood the consequences of a power-hungry government and designed a government in which citizens could be free and not under the watch of a domineering regime. The threat to liberty was spotlighted this week as the Senate discussed alleged unlawful actions taken by the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR), which has been accused of infringing on Missourians’ privacy through the state’s driver’s license renewal system. It is the intention of the Legislature to get to the bottom of this matter and ensure that Missourians’ personal liberties and information are safe.
When Missourians seek a driver’s license or non-driver’s license (such as a CCW), they are required to produce documentation, such as a birth certificate. Through a court case in Stoddard County, it came to light recently that documentation is being scanned by DOR during this process and sent to a database. DOR recently made this procedural change, which clearly ignored Missouri law. The Georgia company that DOR sends the data to produces driver’s licenses and other permits, and, in the end, is supposed to destroy the information. However, lawmakers have noted that DOR cannot confirm that the information is terminated, and allegations have arisen that Missourians’ information is being shared with the federal government.
Hearings were conducted to investigate DOR’s actions, and officials from the state agency denied allegations of sharing source documents with the federal government. As noted in an article by Missourinet, the Senate Appropriations chairman said that the revenue director assured him the gathering of information did not involve the Department of Homeland Security and that the federal agency had not given DOR any grants. The article further states the senator noted that, “the department later denied gathering biometric data on license applicants. But earlier this week, a department official admitted to a legislative committee it was, in fact, gathering the information and, further, has a Homeland Security grant to help get the information.”
Missourians are rightfully furious. Law passed by the General Assembly in 2009 prohibits DOR from amending driver’s license application procedures in order to comply with the goals or standards of the federal REAL ID Act of 2005. They also cannot sell any data derived from a person’s license or permit application for commercial purposes. The law states that any biometric data previously collected for the issuance or renewal of driver’s licenses or identification cards must be retrieved and deleted from all databases. Biometric data is defined as information that is used to uniquely identify individuals, such as a person’s facial characteristics. The federal government has no legitimate reason for holding this type of private information about Missourians.
Thomas Jefferson once said, “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” In moving forward, we need to determine the appropriate consequences for any unlawful actions committed, and ensure Missourians’ personal information is protected. To ensure that DOR does not rise above the law, a Senate bill (SB 252) is making its way through the upper chamber to prohibit DOR from retaining copies of source document used to obtain driver’s licenses and non-driver’s licenses. We are also continuing the investigation to discover whether unlawful or unethical action should be prosecuted.
Concerned Missourians should contact their elected officials and stand up against the injustice that has occurred in regards to their privacy. This matter will not be pushed under the rug — the tone of the upper chamber is that of outrage — and your liberties will be defended.
I appreciate you reading this Legislative Report, and please don’t hesitate to contact my office at (573) 751-2108 if you have any questions.
Thank you and God bless.
Protecting Missourians’ Privacy
President Ronald Reagan once said, “Man is not free unless government is limited.” The best service government can provide for its citizens is to stand back and let the people thrive. When the federal government steps beyond its bounds and initiates excessive regulations, the people begin to feel suffocated and cannot reach their full potential. We need to do what we can to promote and protect the vision our Founding Fathers had for us — the values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
A measure I’m sponsoring in the Senate addresses the protection of privacy for children in Missouri’s public schools. Senate Bill 239 would prohibit a school district from requiring a child to use identification devices that use radio frequency identification technology (RFID) to transmit personal information. Some school districts in Texas are placing RFID chips in student ID badges at campuses across the state; students wear these badges around their necks, and the chip broadcasts information to devices set up on campus. The location of the student can be tracked wherever he or she is on school grounds, from the classroom to the restroom. School districts argue that these badges help them track students’ daily attendance, with school attendance as a key factor in determining a district’s state funding. However, infringing on students’ privacy is not the answer. This “big brother” tactic of monitoring our children simply goes too far. Our children should not be tagged like livestock while at school and shouldn’t feel like their whereabouts are scrutinized by school personnel or by anyone who might gain authorized or unauthorized access to the school.
Another important issue to consider with regards to students’ privacy is identity theft. If the RFID system is hacked, information pertaining to the students would be compromised. Especially at a time when tragic school shootings are on the rise, we cannot allow an attacker to obtain that type of sensitive, personal information.
There is also the issue of religious beliefs with regard to RFID programs. Last fall, administrators from Northside Independent School District in Texas decided to implement an RFID pilot program at two of its campuses. According to an article published by the Huffington Post, the administrators noted that the ID badges would help improve attendance records, leading to more secure school funding. One young lady refused to wear the identification card, due to her personal religious beliefs. The students’ parents requested a preliminary injunction to prevent the school district from transferring her to a different school. In the end, the federal court denied the request and ruled that if the student refused to accept the school’s compromise to allow her to wear the ID badge without the tracking chip, the district could transfer her to another campus.
Although some school districts tout that RFID badges can help monitor school attendance and boost school funding, the cost of implementing a RFID program must be considered. An article posted on MySanAntonio.com in 2012 noted that the Northside Independent School District estimated to spend more than $525,000 to implement the pilot RFID program and more than $136,000 per year to run it. Some officials still say that RFID programs would pay for themselves, but funding is not justification for risking students’ safety and violating their privacy.
Senate Bill 239 was heard by the Senate General Laws Committee on Tuesday, March 5, with no one testifying in opposition. Hopefully the measure will move swiftly through the Legislature to help protect the welfare of students in Missouri.
Another privacy concern came to light this week — it was reported that the Missouri Department of Revenue’s (DOR) local license fee offices have been scanning into a statewide system Missourians’ personal information when obtaining or renewing their drivers’ licenses and concealed carry permits. There is also fear that this information is being sent to the federal government. Regardless of whether the information is getting sent to the federal government, the new procedures by DOR are in violation of state law.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has reported on the new procedures implemented by DOR that violate both state law and a citizen’s privacy. DOR claims the new procedures will help prevent identity theft and fraud. However, a man in Stoddard County filed a lawsuit this week stating that the new procedure of scanning personal information infringes on privacy rights, due to the fact that it allows personal information to be collected and distributed to “a private party and the federal government.” The gentleman wanted a concealed carry permit added to his driver’s license; however, he refused to allow his information to be scanned into the DOR system and his concealed carry permit was denied.
In response to this matter, several measures have been filed in the Missouri Legislature (HB 787 and SB 252) that would prohibit DOR from retaining copies of source documents used to obtain driver’s licenses and non-driver’s licenses. I would also like to assure my constituents that several steps are going forward to get to the bottom of this issue. A Senate committee is planning a hearing with the director of DOR, and my office is conducting its own investigation pertaining to any infringement on Missourians’ privacy. Your rights and liberties are of the utmost importance and must be taken very seriously.
I appreciate you reading this Legislative Report, and please don’t hesitate to contact my office at (573) 751-2108 if you have any questions.
Thank you and God bless.
Leaving Missourians’ Hard Earned Money Alone
In spite of a string of winter weather that left much of the Show-Me State under ice and snow, the Missouri Senate worked through the night on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning debating a measure (SB 120) addressing tax credits. I respect the value of your tax dollars, and I want Missouri’s tax policies to encourage prosperity, rather than dependency. Manipulating a project’s economics with special interest tax policy works against economic prosperity by providing incentives to investors to spend money on projects that will have a lower return on investment. Tax credits may not even be constitutional. Is it really the role of government to provide incentives at the expense of taxpayers’ wallets?
It’s no secret that we have seen tax credit redemptions skyrocket in our state. The Missouri Department of Revenue reported last year that Missouri spent a record $629 million on tax credit redemptions in Fiscal Year 2012. Often times, not enough thought is given to the consequences of using public dollars and the negative impact it has on Missouri families. At a time when our state’s operating budget is tight and the livelihood of critical state services — such as education and transportation — are in question, we should not be wasting funding on subpar tax credit programs.
One solution to the problems with tax credits is to stop taxing income and, instead, tax consumption. If that change is implemented, most tax credits would disappear, because most are credits against income tax liabilities. The income tax was introduced with the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave Congress the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes. America’s founders had recognized the income tax as a threat to liberty and banned it in the U.S. Constitution.
An essay by Frank Chodorov explains the flaws of income tax perfectly: “The Constitution, then, kept the federal government off balance and weak. And a weak government is the corollary of a strong people. The 16th Amendment changed all that. In the first place, by enabling the federal government to put its hands into the pockets and pay envelopes of the people, it drew their allegiance away from their local governments. It made them citizens of the United States, rather than of their respective states. Theft loyalty followed theft money, which was now taken from them not by their local representatives, over whom they had some control, but by the representatives of the other 47 states. They became subject to the will of the central government, and their state of subjection was emphasized by every
increase in the income tax levies.”
A study conducted by the American Legislative Exchange Council in 2012 highlights the differences between the nine states in our country with no personal income tax and the nine states with the highest marginal personal income tax rates. With regard to growing gross state product, the states with no personal income tax have, on average, outperformed the other said states by 39.2 percent. Another study, conducted by the Maine Heritage Policy Center, notes that the state of Maine, which has a top marginal income tax rate of 8.5 percent as of 2012, lost more than 11,400 residents, $661,274,000 in income, and $87,004,000 in taxes, from 1995 to 2009. Researchers found that much of the migration out of Maine went to states without an income tax.
Even though SB 120 adds tax credits, I voted for the bill, because, if passed in its current form, it will still shrink Missouri’s tax credit program. Too often in government, when the train is heading off the cliff, we run to the caboose, instead of solving the problem by stopping the train. Missouri should abandon the tax credits that empower politicians to pick winners and losers, and, instead, empower the people by real tax reform that puts power in the hands of consumers.
I appreciate you reading this Legislative Report, and please don’t hesitate to contact my office at (573) 751-2108 if you have any questions.
Thank you and God bless.
Addressing the Politics of Energy
“Without ample supplies of energy to defend liberty and to inspire and support innovation, a society is restricted to serfdom and barbarism; their sure destiny is
third-world status.” — Anonymous
Prosperity and electricity consumption are allies. As one of the most prosperous nations in the world, our country is also among the most energy intensive, ranking seventh in per capita electricity consumption behind countries like Iceland, Norway, and Canada. In our ever-more digital world, electricity demand will continue to increase and reliability will become even more important. Missouri’s average residential electricity rates are 13th from the lowest in the United States, while overall rates are 14th from lowest. More than 80 percent of our electricity is generated by coal, which helps keep our costs low, relative to other states.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is appointed by the governor and is responsible for establishing electricity rates for publicly owned and independently owned utilities. Municipal utility and rural electric cooperative prices are set by their own management structures. All forecasts show demand for electricity continuing to increase into the foreseeable future, eventually requiring additional generation capacity, but there is no current shortage of electricity for Missouri consumers.
Three major elements comprise the electric industry: base load generation, peak load generation, and the distribution network known as “the grid.” Since electric utilities are regulated monopolies not subject to competition, the regulators of the PSC are charged with balancing the reliability, safety, and cost of electricity. The cost of that regulation is significant and is born by electricity consumers. As a member of the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee, one of my goals is to reduce the costs of regulation, which has a direct impact on the price of electricity.
Senate Bill 207 is designed to that end. Called an ISRS bill (Infrastructure System Replacement Surcharge), it can potentially reduce certain regulatory expenses by as much as 90 percent — savings that go directly to ratepayers. The “infrastructure” affected by SB 207 consists primarily of the electricity grid — the poles and power lines that transport power from the place of generation to your homes and businesses — and the baseload power plants. These baseload plants ensure that when you turn on the switch, there is power to your lights, furnace, or air conditioner; when new federal regulations are imposed, they must be upgraded or renovated to meet the mandates. Peak load facilities will be largely unaffected by SB 207, and no new construction or revenue generating additions are to be impacted.
Currently, a regulated utility must spend the money to maintain and upgrade infrastructure before they can apply to the PSC for approval to recover those costs from ratepayers, and that will not change. The cost of the PSC application may reach more than a million dollars, which would be billed to ratepayers. If SB 207 passes in its committee substitute form, the cost of applying to the PSC for a ruling on those infrastructure costs may drop to as little as $10,000 to $20,000. The cost of repairs will be the same with or without SB 207 and the PSC’s authority to confirm or deny the prudency of all expenses will not change. Only the cost of regulation will change, and it will go down significantly.
I wish electricity prices were not increasing, yours or mine, but I am convinced the primary driver of higher prices is Washington, D.C. We have an administration in the White House and a Department of Energy that have publicly declared their intentions to increase the price of coal generation and drive states, like Missouri, to higher cost electricity. Unreasonable regulations have virtually assured that no new coal-fired plants will be built. Plants that are more than 50 years old are being forced to undergo expensive upgrades that have no significant impact on the environment, yet cost millions of dollars, largely due to politics.
In the Missouri Senate, we will continue to do everything within our jurisdiction to reduce the costs of electricity; but, in a nation increasingly ruled by executive orders and punitive EPA regulations, it is the politics of energy, more than its generation and delivery, that drives the cost. Those telling you otherwise are either ill-informed or party to the politics.
I appreciate you reading this legislative report, and please don’t hesitate to contact my office at (573) 751-2108 if you have any questions.
Thank you and God bless.
Addressing Student Outcomes in Our State
“What we know does not help until we know right from wrong.” —Anonymous
The latest innovation to address the goal of improving public education is called the Common Core State Standards Initiative, also referred to as “Common Core.” There is room for honest disagreement on its potential, but my view is that Common Core is a decisive, if not calculated, move toward a one-size-fits-all curriculum directed by the federal government. In what may have begun as a state initiative to establish fundamental minimums for a high school education, a monster has been created that removes parents and high quality teachers further from the classroom.
Few educators or parents would disagree that teacher quality is the most important factor in student achievement. In an attempt to realize consistent student outcomes, the Common Core curriculum will instead shackle the potential of our best teachers and hide the deficiencies of our worst. What little remains of the innovation and direct accountability of local control will be lost. Those states making the greatest gains in student outcome are winning with more local control, not less.
Consider the federal government’s removal of prayer and the Bible from public schools in 1962 and 1963. Since the Bible and school prayer were outlawed, America has seen a 694 percent increase in violent crimes, even though crime had been decreasing for decades before 1962. What does history tell us about the significance of the government decree to abandon prayer and the character of scripture?
Allow me to share with you some information regarding the history of the Bible and prayer in our public schools.
- The name of the first education law in America was the Northwest Ordinance Act, which required territories that wanted to become a state to first agree to an education plan that would include teaching religion, morality, and knowledge.
- The founder of public schools under the U.S. Constitution was Dr. Benjamin Rush.
- In 1791, Dr. Rush wrote a document stating that the reason we should start public schools in America is to teach the Word of God.
- In 1791, Dr. Rush wrote a book titled, “Use of the Bible in Schools.” Dr. Rush lists as one of the reasons the Bible should never be removed from America’s schoolrooms, “Because if the Bible is removed, there will be an explosion in crime requiring educators to spend so much time on discipline at the expense of academic education.”
- Phonics and the alphabet taught in the New England Premier were taught by connecting each letter of the alphabet with a rhyming sentence that taught Christian doctrines or Bible verses.
- The following was a question from the 1st Grade New England Premier: What are the benefits that in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption and sanctification?”
Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions decided by a 6-1 vote in 1962, and an 8-1 vote in 1963, tossed out 171 years of history and documented education success. The United States moved education off the rock of “in God we trust” and onto the sand of “big government knows best.” One look at the results reveals the foolishness of those decisions and exposes the failure of moving control of public education from parents and school boards to government — ever-increasing costs and flat to declining results. It’s time to restore the foundation.
The principles that prepared extraordinary leaders and established this country as the greatest on earth are no longer legal or politically correct; the government forbids us to teach these quality values in public schools. Now, the government that took prayer and the Bible out of public schools threatens to take over the curriculum that remains via “Common Core.” Somewhere, we have taken the wrong path and are going in the wrong direction. As parents, we must once again take charge of the education of our children. The fundamentals of right and wrong, good character, and honest principles that are universal and absolute must be laid as a foundation before wrapping ourselves in the trappings of education for knowledge’s sake. What we know doesn’t help until we know right from wrong.
Even within the confines of postmodern government, some states are showing progress in reduced dropout rates, improved test scores, and other positive student outcomes. We are studying those states and hope to adopt the reforms that can be adapted to Missouri schools. Your prayers and suggestions are welcome; without them, we are likely to fail. We cannot allow this to happen — if we fail, our children and grandchildren would likely follow suit. We need to build for them a bright future in which they can learn, grow, and prosper in our good country.
I appreciate you reading this Legislative Report, and please don’t hesitate to contact my office at (573) 751-2108 if you have any questions.
Thank you and God bless.
Giving Missourians the Freedom to Work
“Bad ideas are removed not by assassination but by reason.” Anonymous
Several job creation bills have been filed in the Missouri House and Senate, addressing labor organizations and practices. These measures are often termed “Right to Work” laws, but are more accurately described as “freedom to work laws.” Just this week, a Missouri House committee heard legislation regarding a freedom to work bill; the hearing was so crowded that, according to the Kansas City Star, not everyone got to testify Wednesday morning (public testimony was scheduled to resume that afternoon). I believe that every worker should be free to associate, contribute, and support a labor union if he or she chooses. The converse is that the same worker should be free to choose not to associate, contribute, or support a labor union.
States that acknowledge and protect workers’ freedoms are surviving America’s economic crisis far better than those that do not, and why shouldn’t they; freedom is an indispensable element of prosperity. American exceptionalism affirms the dynamics of freedom; never before or since has a society with such meager beginnings faced comparable adversity and still progressed so fast or so far economically, technologically, or socially. Progress and prosperity came because our ancestors were dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal and understood that there are God-given unalienable rights, such as life, liberty, and property. A quick look at contrasting state policies around the country confirms the alignment between the public’s general welfare and worker freedom.
The attack on worker freedom largely began with the passage of the law known as the Wagner Act (1935), part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal and precipitated by judicial schemes referred to by some historians as “sandbagging” and “court-packing.” After a number of U.S. Supreme Court opinions finding multiple New Deal measures unconstitutional, two justices suddenly changed their positions, which reversed the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion on the constitutionality of the Wagner Act. This act of the federal government negatively impacted the liberty of both employer and employee. It became nearly impossible for management and labor to work as partners and, instead, imposed an adversarial environment making them much more often competitors.Even as “Job Creation” dominates headlines and Missouri’s legislative agenda, our state grows less competitive. Neighboring and more remote states are exploiting Missouri’s weakness as they restore worker freedom and reform tax law and regulatory perspectives. Anecdotally we hear that many companies ask first about worker freedom laws before exploring other reasons to move to Missouri.
One former union organizer confessed this week that during part of his work history the strongest unions were those in the states that provided freedom to workers to join or not to join a union. His opinion was the freedom of workers to choose whether to join a union made unions more attentive to worker concerns and made workers more engaged in union activities. In addition, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported in 2011 that a site selection consultant from Greenville, S.C., said that 75 percent of the manufacturers he works with “explicitly express a strong interest in being in a Right to Work state.” He said about half of them won’t even consider states that don’t fit that bill. The Post-Dispatch article also notes that the National Right to Work Committee’s director of legislation stated that while wages may be lower in Right to Work states, family income is higher when those states’ lower cost of living is taken into account. You can learn more about how Right to Work states benefit economically by clicking here, and by reading this article regarding Right to Work laws and manufacturing jobs.
Freedom is always the better path to both individual and institutional success. I hope those of you who still feel threatened by legislation like SB 238, which I am sponsoring for the 2013 legislative session, will look beyond the thin assertions of either proponents or opponents and consider the need for Missouri to be competitive with other states and nations. The more I investigate, the more convinced I become that workers and businesses, alike, benefit from greater freedom, not less. As Samuel Adams once said, “The truth is, all might be free if they valued freedom, and defended it as they ought.”
I appreciate you reading this Legislative Report, and please don’t hesitate to contact my office at (573) 751-2108 if you have any questions.
Thank you and God bless.
Review of the State of the State Address
“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”
— King Solomon
— King Solomon
The Missouri Senate began its week by gathering with members of the House of Representatives to listen to the governor’s annual State of the State address. This is the time the governor presents his recommendations regarding the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on July 1. We all want the best for the people of our state, but I cannot agree with the governor’s proposal, and implementing the recommendations we heard on Monday would cause irreparable damage to our state.
My assessment is that the governor said he is happy with the progress Missouri has made during his first four years in office, and has no intention of changing course. It was “spend more money doing the same things.” Over the last four years, we have seen Missouri languish in everything from employment to education. We’ve lost jobs and population to neighboring states precipitating the loss of one of our congressional districts and delegates.
Few in either political party envy Gov. Nixon’s dilemma. He was handed devastating social and economic policies by Washington, D.C. that make it harder for families, businesses, and workers to survive. For a governor of the minority party, the politics have been challenging: does he support failed federal policies like “stimulus,” income redistribution, expansion of food stamps, and socialized medicine, or does he push back and risk political backlash from his own political party? Does he continue to join Washington, D.C. in promoting more dependency on government, rather than independence of government? Will he risk alienating his own party with free market policies that encourage individual liberty and responsibility, as well as economic freedom? Does he continue to build into Missouri’s budget federal dollars and ignore the truth that it is really just federal debt?
The governor advocated for expanding Medicaid to make more Missourians dependent on government and ignored the harmful effects of the federal health care law that created this proposal. There are federal incentives until 2017; however, this is not “free” money, and how much do you trust a federal government that is already more than $14 trillion in debt? Our nation is in a financial emergency and the federal government is trying to lure the states into accepting the invisible money, dragging our country even deeper in debt. Missouri would eventually be required to take over a portion of the cost of the expansion — a cost that would amount to millions out of taxpayers’ wallets. Have you looked at your paycheck this year and adjusted your budget to the increases in your taxes? Why not design policies to transition out of welfare and move our state forward? That requires engaging free-market forces like eliminating taxes on income, freeing workers to choose whether to belong to unions, and reining in bureaucracies like the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
The governor also touted increased funding for early childhood, K-12, and higher education. Last year, his plan for the FY 2013 budget would have slashed funding for higher education by $89 million — this was the third time the governor proposed cuts to higher education. The Legislature stepped in and was able to allocate $65.9 million in reduced state spending to restore the governor’s proposed cuts to higher education, maintaining the same level of funding from the previous fiscal year. In the end, the governor withheld nearly $9 million from higher education.
Furthermore, the governor’s budget proposal depends on the Missouri Legislature passing numerous pieces of legislation. If lawmakers do not agree upon a measure and these bills don’t become law, the governor’s budget proposal would collapse. As highlighted in an article by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the governor’s budget depends upon: $56.6 million from legislation regarding Missouri’s “circuit breaker” tax credit (HB 192); $51.8 million from a tax amnesty proposal (HB 55); and, of course, we can’t forget the $46.6 million his budget plan relies on from the expansion of Medicaid.
Missourians do not appear to me to be more free or prosperous than four years ago. Promises of more of the same promises the same results, and I, for one, do not believe government can ignore the laws of economics or the lessons of history and be successful. In the months ahead, my hope and prayer is that the governor will be present in our efforts to create jobs, provide incentives for businesses to locate to Missouri, and ensure our children have a successful academic career.
I appreciate you reading this Legislative Report, and please don’t hesitate to contact my office at (573) 751-2108 if you have any questions.
Thank you and God bless.
Honoring a Missouri Legend: Stan Musial
“Achievement may not always produce character, but character always produces achievement.”- Anonymous
Citizens of Missouri take great pride in their state and are proud to honor Missourians who become role models for our children and grandchildren. Last Saturday, Jan. 19, one of Missouri’s greatest champions — Stan “The Man” Musial — passed away at the age of 92 at his home in Ladue, Mo. He was a famous player for the St. Louis Cardinals and a baseball legend; his bust is located in the Hall of Famous Missourians. Even greater than his amazing career as a baseball player in Missouri, is the heritage of good character he left to his descendents and our state. On a daily basis, Stan Musial displayed the character qualities of integrity, determination, compassion, sensitivity, and generosity. He displayed incredible sportsmanship and just plain good manners. He bravely served our country in the U.S. Navy during World War II and is one of the best examples of an all-American hero.
This week, the Missouri Senate enthusiastically applauded a measure (SB 176) to designate the new I-70 bridge crossing the Mississippi River as the “Stan Musial Memorial Bridge.” The new bridge is slated to open to traffic in 2014. Dedicating the bridge to Stan Musial is one small way we can honor his character and accomplishments. Musial played for the St. Louis Cardinals his entire baseball career, from 1941 to 1963. Throughout his journey in baseball, he earned three National League “Most Valuable Player” awards and three World Series titles. He was also admitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.
Stan Musial was known as a true gentleman, on the baseball field and off — he had never been ejected by an umpire. CNN noted that then-Major League Commissioner Ford Frick referred to Stan Musial as “baseball’s perfect warrior, baseball’s perfect knight.” He was known for his love and generosity to children. According to KSDK News, Stan Musial raised more than $4 million for Covenant House in North St. Louis. He was also known to visit children at the local hospital, bringing a smile to people’s faces by signing autographs and playing the harmonica.
Stan Musial’s life demonstrates that, although achievement doesn’t always produce character, character always produces achievement. I’m thankful that Stan Musial called the beautiful state of Missouri home, and I’m eternally grateful for the example he was to others. Today’s heroes are not always the best role models for our children, so we were blessed to have had such a gracious gentleman in our lives. He never failed to carry himself with dignity, and it’s an honor to join other legislators in remembering and honoring him. May we all strive for a legacy such as the one of Stan Musial.
I appreciate you reading this Legislative Report, and please don’t hesitate to contact my office at (573) 751-2108 if you have any questions. Thank you and God bless!
The White House as an Assault Weapon
The national furor this week pertains to the latest attack on legitimate gun ownership from the White House. The office charged with defending our constitutional rights has now become the enemy, as it no longer protects our God-given liberties. Emails are pouring in demanding the state Legislature take action — there is dogged determination to see the Missouri Senate stand up to defend Missourians’ Second Amendment Rights.
Just as Wednesday’s legislative session was ending, Sen. Kurt Schaefer from Boone County asked for a point of personal privilege — an action any senator may take to temporarily pause the business coming before the body and direct attention to a matter important to that particular senator. Senator Schaefer then, very eloquently and passionately, declared his opposition to the latest executive order scheme to commandeer the right of Americans to keep and bear arms.
Senator Schaefer called upon the entire Senate to consider the oath taken just last week and stand up for the rights of Missourians and against Washington, D.C.’s attack on law-abiding gun ownership. He predicted the eventual loss of additional freedoms guaranteed by our U.S. Constitution if we fail to act now. Silence fell over the normally noisy Senate floor, confirming the timing and impact of his words; they expressed a clear and imminent threat, precisely and prophetically. Upon adjournment, two minority-party senators converged on Sen. Schaefer to express their disapproval of the senator’s remarks and disagreement with his position. I wonder if they referenced our oath of office in their rebuke; I doubt it.
Legislation was already introduced in both the Missouri House and Missouri Senate to draw a line in the sand against this latest attack on both the Second and the 10th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Missouri also enjoys the benefit of dozens of county sheriffs who are serious about their oath to support the U.S. and Missouri constitutions. These sheriffs understand both their duty and authority, and some have publicly confronted this week’s executive orders, stating they are unconstitutional and unenforceable actions. I hope you will find out where your sheriffs stand, and encourage them to stand their ground and stay in touch with other sheriffs.
Only two matters separate freedom from tyranny — our U.S. Constitution and our willingness and ability to defend it. There is a difference between a free people and serfdom; it is an armed citizenry. The President’s administration has shown contempt for the U.S. Constitution and deliberately violated it repeatedly. I am baffled and frustrated that elected members of Congress have neglected what I consider their duty to compose and file articles of impeachment.
Missouri legislators continue to discuss the course of action that will most effectively secure to our citizens the rights guaranteed us by the U.S. and state constitutions, principally the right to keep and bear arms. Thank you for your alertness to any domestic threat to liberty, and I encourage you to contact my office with your concerns.
Beginnings
Yesterday began the 97th General Assembly of the Missouri Senate. I was honored to be sworn in to serve the 31st Senatorial District for the next four years and was pleased to have a number of constituents and friends travel to Jefferson City to witness the ceremony and offer words of congratulations and encouragement.
Today, committee assignments became official. I will be serving as vice chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence. I also will be serving on three other committees: Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment; Education; and Ways and Means.
Looking around the Missouri Senate chamber, two quotations are prominent:
“Nothing is politically right that is morally wrong” and
“Free and fair discussion will ever be found the firmest friend to truth”
My sense during the campaigns of 2012 was that there is great frustration over the perceived impotence of both these declarations within the halls of government.
Government is neither moral nor immoral; it is power. The precepts and personalities of government, however, will be either moral or immoral, and it is free and fair discussion that exposes them for what they are and offers to the people some measure of protection from bad government.
Our great nation was “… conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” The exceptionalism of America and of any state is a product of two principles — individual liberty and economic freedom. Nevertheless, liberty does not defend itself, and it must be the primary theme of every election; if it is not, that election is just negotiating the terms of liberty’s surrender. It is the job of each elected official to fulfill our oath to the constitution with our votes and our voices.
Thank you for allowing me to serve in such a vital role in shaping the future of our state. In 2013, please pray for elected officials and for the legislative session. There are other ways to be involved in Missouri’s prosperity and success, but none exceeds that of your fervent prayers. In the words of Benjamin Franklin: “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?”
I hope to write weekly reports on the scope and sequence of the 2013 legislative session. If you would like to receive those reports via email, please enter your email address in the signup box at the top of this page. We will be happy to add you to our email distribution.