The 2025 Missouri legislative session begins Wednesday afternoon with abortion, tax cuts and public safety heading the agenda.
Arguably the largest change in Missouri policy last year was the passage of Amendment 3, which overturned the state’s near-total abortion ban. The amendment passed with 51.6% of the statewide vote in November.
A judge ruled in December that many of Missouri’s anti-abortion laws were now unconstitutional due to Amendment 3.
However, the judge left some requirements for clinics that perform abortions in place. Those requirements, according to Planned Parenthood, mean abortions still can’t take place legally in Missouri.
Because Amendment 3 added abortion rights to Missouri’s constitution, there is little legislators can do statutorily to address it.
However, Jon Patterson, who’s expected to be elected House speaker, said there are elements the legislature can look at regarding the amendment.
“The amendment says that it should be regulated after fetal viability. I think one of the things we could do is define what that is,” Patterson said.
Generally fetal viability is considered to be around 24 weeks.
Patterson also said: “I think we could address the issue of what is a medical provider. I think we could address the issues of seeking damages if you have something go wrong.”
He believes any changes the legislature would want to make would likely have to go through Missouri voters.
“That is why I think people are taking some time to look at this, because they know that it will ultimately have to go back to the voters,” Patterson said.
Minority Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, said she expects a lot of different angles from Republicans on how they address Amendment 3. She says those differences in opinion prove the issue should be left alone.
“We've got to stop yelling at each other about the nuances and understand that this is such a deeply personal, deeply private medical decision that we have no business weighing in on,” Aune said.
Lawmakers have roughly 4 ½ months to figure how they want to proceed before the session ends in May.
An odd-numbered year always marks changes in the Missouri legislature. It means a new class of lawmakers as well as new leadership in both the House and Senate.
Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, spent the past two sessions as the Senate majority floor leader. She said she’s looking for a more debate-focused environment this year.
“I would like to see the senators talk about what they think is important in the merits or the problems that they might see with some of the legislation, and I think we'll have that,” O’Laughlin said.
In the November election, both Senate and House Republicans held onto their supermajorities.
House Democrats needed to flip three seats to break the supermajority, while Senate Democrats needed to flip two.
Patterson, R-Lee’s Summit, credits the members of his caucus for keeping the supermajority.
“I think Missouri is a center-right state, and so as long as we're able to get our message out, I think we tend to do well, and I think that's what was reflected in the results,” Patterson said.
New priorities from a new governor
In addition to a new class of lawmakers and new leadership, for the first time since 2018, legislators will be working with a new governor.
Gov.-elect Mike Kehoe is set to be inaugurated Monday and already has a list of priorities.
One of those is legislation concerning public safety. That includes language that would place control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department with an appointed board.
The department has been under the control of the mayor’s office since 2013, after Missouri voters approved a ballot item in 2012. Before that vote, the board had been under state control for over 150 years.
Kansas City’s police department remains under the control of an appointed board.
Kehoe said the move would take “the partisan piece of politics out of the police department.”
“I believe that model seems to work better. Many people in the business community in St. Louis that are the folks that want to invest capital to expand specifically to downtown St Louis think that's a better option. The mayor obviously does not,” Kehoe said.
Efforts in the past couple of sessions to change who runs the St. Louis police department have stalled. Chief Robert Tracy has spoken against the legislation.
Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, D-Affton, said it’s important that lawmakers from St. Louis have their voices heard on the issue.
“Our two Democratic senators that represent the city are going to have a big say in this, and they should,” Beck said.
O’Laughlin said that is legislation that will be considered this year.
“I did meet with several interested parties, the City of St. Louis, the police union, some others. And we met weekly and talked about some of the issues that have arisen, and I think an answer can be found,” O’Laughlin said.
Reduction in taxes in consideration
Another priority of Kehoe’s is further reducing the state’s income tax. He has said previously that he wants to eventually end the income tax in Missouri. Lawmakers passed an income tax cut as recently as 2022.
O’Laughlin says tax legislation will likely depend on the state budget.
“We're going to have to get the budget back down to a normal size, something that's sustainable and is conservative in spending. So, the two things have to kind of match up,” O’Laughlin said.
Patterson said some of the proposals he has seen so far would reduce taxes on the growth Missouri has experienced.
“I think that does recognize that we do have to be mindful of the budget,” Patterson said.
The past few sessions, the state budget has ballooned due to the influx of billions in federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021.
With that money now appropriated, the budget will likely be smaller.
In recent years, Democrats have had greater influence on the makeup of the budget. Aune said the budget process will be different this year.
“I think that we're going to have to fight a little bit harder for our priorities, and I think in addition to that, we're going to have to take a really solid look at what those priorities are,” Aune said.
Another Republican-led policy the last few sessions has been proposals to reduce or eliminate personal property taxes.
Beck said the debate on property and personal property taxes removes the ability for local communities to decide what they want for themselves.
“If we take these things away at the state level, that's frustrating to me,” Beck said.
Transgender care
Legislators in 2023 outlawed transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming care such as puberty blockers. They also barred transgender student athletes from participating on sport teams that align with their gender identity.
While lawmakers passed that law two sessions ago, it contained a provision for it to expire in late August 2027.
Both Patterson and O’Laughlin said legislation that would remove the sunset and consequently make the bans permanent are on the agenda.
“I don't know if it will get done this session, but it will certainly get done before that becomes a reality,” O’Laughlin said.
Aune believes there will be a push to end the sunset this year.
“Unfortunately, the supermajority and all of its power continues to focus on these tiny, niche social issues that really affect a very small portion of the population. But boy, are they upset about it,” Aune said.
Child care access
One policy with bipartisan support that faced hurdles last year is legislation expanding child care access.
This legislation had the backing of Parson and cleared the House but not the Senate.
Patterson said backers will try again this year. He said it is a priority for him.
“It really is affecting our workforce, and I saw so many times just talking with people at their doors, one person in the household isn't working, and the reason is specifically child care. So, it's something that we can't not address,” Patterson said.
The legislation in question would give tax incentives to employers, child care facilities and individuals to help lower the costs and open availability.
Beck said that’s something he would like to see done.
“That'll get more folks into the workforce and be able to help their families, but we also can't let them go bankrupt by the cost of child care,” Beck said.
Abortion amendment added complexity to changing the constitution
With Amendment 3 now a part of Missouri’s constitution, there is a question on how hard the legislature will try this year to make it more difficult to amend the constitution through ballot initiatives.
Last session, efforts to pass a proposed amendment that would have required a concurrent majority of Missouri’s congressional districts to change the constitution failed in the final week.
Republicans said the possibility of an abortion amendment was a reason to put it in front of voters before last November.
If lawmakers now put forward a successful ballot item that makes it harder to amend the constitution, it would ultimately be harder to remove Amendment 3.
However, despite the passage of Amendment 3, O’Laughlin said the issue is still on the table.
“The initiative petition process, people say, ‘Well, this is a citizen-led initiative.’ What it actually is, is out-of-state interests come in, find somebody who's willing to file something in their name, and then the money pours into our state from outside of our state to try to push Missouri to be more progressive,” O’Laughlin said.
Aune also believes that making it harder to amend the constitution will remain a priority this year.
“It's about abortion. They want to keep abortion top of mind, because abortion gets people engaged. It keeps people angry, and that's what works on their side of the aisle. That's how they get votes,” Aune said.
Patterson said he believes Amendment 3 complicates things.
“I still maintain that the way we change the constitution in Missouri is flawed and we should change it. But yes, it is somewhat complicated by having Amendment 3 on there,” Patterson said.
Challenges to Proposition A
Another ballot item passed by Missouri voters in the November election was a measure to raise the minimum wage and provide paid sick leave to workers.
Proposition A raises the minimum wage to $13.75 an hour this year and then again to $15 an hour in 2026. It also mandates paid sick leave.
The proposition passed with 57.5% of the vote.
Since its passage, the proposition is being challenged in the courts. Because it’s a statute change, it could face pushback from legislators as well.
Some lawmakers have already filed bills that either modify or repeal the changes made in Proposition A.
Patterson said he is not in support of legislation that would delay the implementation of the sick leave requirement.
“I think we have to respect the will of the people, and I think it would take away a lot of the confidence that people have in the legislature if we decided to delay things that they voted upon,” Patterson said.
Tensions in Republican supermajority
The past few years have been marked by Republican infighting – most recently between the Freedom Caucus and Republican leadership in the Senate.
Tension between the two groups has at times led to shouting matches on the floor and early adjournments.
O’Laughlin said term limits are one reason for the dysfunction.
“Admittedly, it takes time to get anything done, so they reach the end of their term before they feel they have accomplished what they'd like to, and I think that's a little bit of what results in the fireworks on the Senate floor,” O’Laughlin said.
Even with some members of the Freedom Caucus not returning due to term limits, Beck believes there once again there will be three power structures in the Senate.
“There's a power vacuum, there's going to be somebody that fills that void. And that's really what's going on in their party right now. It's a fight for their identity as a Republican Party,” Beck said.
The tensions typically found in the Senate have somewhat spread into the House.
In November, Rep. Justin Sparks, R-Wildwood, a member of the Freedom Caucus, announced he was running to be the new speaker over Patterson.
In a video posted on X, Sparks said that Missourians “voted overwhelmingly to send Republicans back to Jefferson City” and that the freshman lawmakers “are not going to vote for a speaker of the House that is not conservative.”
Patterson said that Sparks’ challenge is disappointing but that he’s glad he has the “confidence of the Republican conference.”
“I'm willing to run and put myself out there, and we'll just go out there, we'll count the votes and we'll move on,” Patterson said.
A formal confirmation vote for the speakership is scheduled for the first day of the legislative session.
The session runs until mid-May.
