State lawmakers provide legislative update, rundown of August ballot issues for South KC Alliance

By Tony Madden

A state senator and four representatives provided a legislative update to attendees of Monday’s South KC Alliance meeting at the KCPD South Patrol station. They were just five of nearly 20 current and former elected officials in attendance.

Mayor Pro Tem and Councilwoman for the 5th District Ryana Parks-Shaw reminded attendees she is running for mayor in 2027. Rep. Mark Sharp, who also attended the meeting, plans to end his time in the state legislature and run for Parks-Shaw’s Kansas City council seat. The meeting was also attended by Karissa Varga, the nurse and Democrat running for Sharp’s District 37 seat in the State House of Representatives.

KC-area lawmakers on the good and the bad from Missouri’s 2026 legislative session

State Sen. Patty Lewis and Reps. Anthony Ealy, Emily Weber, Mark Sharp and Pattie Mansur updated the alliance on several pieces of legislation relating to healthcare, public safety, taxes and more. During the 2026 session, the legislature passed 82 bills and 17 appropriation bills, Rep. Weber said. 

Rep. Ealy kicked off the meeting by praising the Missouri General Assembly for passing Elijah’s Law. The bill requires child care facilities in Missouri to take steps to manage food allergies for children in their care, Rep. Ealy said. The law is named for Elijah Silvera, a New York City three-year-old who died of an allergic reaction from food provided by his daycare.

Elijah’s Law was included in House Bill 2372, which was delivered to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s desk for signing on May 28. The healthcare omnibus bill repeals and enacts many provisions to improve health care for Missourians, Sen. Lewis said at the meeting. The former ICU trauma nurse added the years-long bipartisan effort has been one of her priorities. 

Sen. Lewis co-sponsored a provision of the bill that would allow all Missourians who are prescribed birth control pills to pick up a one-year supply instead of returning to the pharmacy every few months. Missourians on Medicaid already have access to the annual supply, but the bill would require private insurers to offer the same courtesy. 

Sen. Lewis praised several areas of the bill, including provisions to prohibit private insurance caps on anesthesia coverage, to loosen requirements for social work supervisors, and to bolster care for first responders following critical incidents. She also said legislation was passed to address communication gaps for deaf and hard-of-hearing Missourians and to bolster the state’s domestic violence prevention efforts. 

An important bill that did not pass was Senate Bill 1066, an adjustment to property tax laws, Sen. Lewis said. If passed, it would have required more transparency and accountability in the state’s property taxation system.

Rep. Weber went over more legislation that did not pass, including the General Assembly’s failure to pass a budget that meets the K-12 foundation formula requirement. Missouri’s Foundation Formula law is the per-student framework used to distribute K-12 public education funding to local school districts.

The biggest win for Missourians, Rep. Weber added, was the governor’s signing of House Bill 1908. The bipartisan effort allows pregnant women in Missouri to be granted divorces during pregnancy. It eliminates a decades-old law that required women to delay finalizing their divorces until after childbirth.

Rep. Sharp’s legislative update mostly concerned public safety. He celebrated the passing of House Bill 1740, which requires Missourians with a DUI charge to install ignition interlocks after their first offense. Rep. Sharp also discussed Senate Bill 888, which expands the prosecuting authority to penalize more juveniles as adults. 

“I am worried about the effects it could have on our community,” Rep. Sharp said of SB 888.

Rep. Mansur discussed legislation with a business and industry angle. She praised the expansion of the state’s prosecuting authority against human traffickers and child predators with House Bill 2273, reminding attendees that human trafficking is a large industry. The law, signed by the governor in April, establishes a definition for “grooming,” of children, increases penalties, and extends statutes of limitations.

Also on Rep. Mansur’s list of wins were a wide-ranging downtown investment economic stimulus bill, the restoration and expansion of the state’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit program, and the creation of Workforce Pell Grants. Mansur also circled back to Weber’s point about not meeting foundation formula requirements, noting $60 million was allocated to the Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Fund for low-income K-12 students and those with individualized education plans. 

The amendments appearing on your Missouri August 4 primary ballot

The five state lawmakers also went over the four ballot measures to appear on the August 4 primary ballot, which would amend the Missouri constitution. They are Amendments 1, 2, 4 and 5. Amendment 3 will not appear on the ballot until the Nov. 3 general election. It asks voters whether Missouri should repeal the constitutional right to abortion care, which they ratified in the 2024 general election. 

Mansur explained Amendment 1, which asks Missouri voters whether the state should continue to impose a one-tenth of 1% sales tax for the soil and water conservation at state parks and historic sites. The tax was first approved by voters in 1984 and now appears on the ballot every 10 years. 

“Where Missouri shines is in our conservation department and our state parks,” Mansur said. “It’s something that we can be proud of. This is an important one, and it’s an easy one to push ‘yes’ on.”

Sharp explained Amendment 2, which asks voters whether Missouri should require all charter counties, including Jackson County, elect their county assessors and comply with certain training requirements. Not much would change for Jackson County, because it already chooses to elect its county assessor, Sharp admitted. 

Weber explained Amendment 4, which asks voters whether Missouri should change the way signatures are counted for an initiative petition. If ratified, a simple statewide majority would not suffice for an issue to appear on the ballot. Instead, petitions would need a majority of voters in each of Missouri’s eight congressional districts to go before voters. This means getting an issue on the ballot would be nearly impossible.

Finally, Weber explained Amendment 5, which asks voters whether Misosuri should phase out and eliminate individual income tax based on revenue growth. To offset the loss, taxes on goods and services would increase. This would include increased taxes on rent, utilities, haircuts, medical expenses, daycare, auto and home repairs, and more, Weber said. 

The meeting ended with the lawmakers recommending members of the South KC Alliance get to the polls on Aug. 4 and stay informed through the Missouri Budget Project as well as the League of Women Voters.